Aura's Yami
by Rioluisa
Summary: 5 years ago, Ash lost his father to a madman. Now, at Ash's 14th birthday, he is being hunted down by the same man for one thing: his aura. When he embarks on a journey to master it, he will learn that everything has darkness in them, including aura...
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

The world of Pokémon: where the life between humans and Pokémon is much stronger than anywhere else. In the past, there were humans who could use this life force (called aura) to connect with nature's aura, do amazing super human abilities, establish justice, and protect all living things. These Aura Guardians were always accompanied by their most loyal and trustworthy Pokémon. However, as society developed, humans lost touch with nature's aura and began to build buildings that destroyed their forests and rivers; thus Aura Guardians became rarer and rarer until the verge of extinction. Today few Aura Guardians exist…

This story begins with two brother aura guardians as they walk together in a forest, on their way to a Pokémon championship. One of the brothers is a renowned Pokémon master that goes by the name Tajiri, and is holding a tiny Pikachu in his arms. The other is his older brother who goes by the name Jonathon and is holding a Meowth in his hands. They were both going to a Pokémon championship (at the request of Tajiri's son) so that they can show off their skills. In order to get to their city, they had to pass a forest that seemed never-ending. Like always, Tajiri was being whiny and complaining about everything.

"So Jon, are we ever getting there? I'm impatient!"

"Patience, patience. Don't you want your son to see how patient you are?"

"No. I want him to see me win!"

"Hehehe, classic Tajiri. I feel sorry for your new Pikachu. I wonder if it can stand your complaining."

"Don't worry. Once my son turns 10, Pikachu will have to put up with his stubbornness."

"Pika?"

The brothers kept walking, until Pikachu sensed something wrong…

"Pikachu?"

"Huh? What's wrong Pikachu?"

Suddenly, a bang was heard in the air.

"Was that a gunshot !" Tajiri cried out. But he didn't have time to worry more about that: he saw Jonathon was lying on the floor with his hand on his arm.

"Jonathon?"

"Run away! Someone's shooting at us!"

"I can't leave you like this!"

Two more bangs were heard, and Tajiri and Jonathon started to run away.

"Just run!"

However, with so many trees, Tajiri and Jonathon got separated.

"Jonathon?"

"Pika?"

Suddenly, a Tajiri felt a hit and was blacked out.

"….."

A few hours later, Tajiri was slowly gaining consciousness. His hands and feet were tied up, making it impossible for him to escape. He saw Pikachu tied up as well beside him, unconscious, and was thinking to himself:

"Damn, I got hit pretty hard. Where am I?"

He realized that he was in an open field, away from the forest and saw behind him that the ground stopped.

"So I'm on a cliff. But how did I get here? And where is Jonathon?"

"Don't worry. You should give up on your brother already."

A man in a sharp suit and brown hair came out of the forest and approached Tajiri. He spoke in a sinister voice and looked intimidating.

"Fufufu, so you're Tajiri the Pokémon Master, huh? My, my not as intimidating when you're tied up, huh?"

"…, why did you do this to me?"

"What? I can't ask you for a battle like a normal person?"

"Where's my brother!"

"Oh honestly. I suggest you control your anger, if you ever want to see your family again."

"At the mention of his family, Tajiri quickly quieted. He knew he was facing a dangerous foe, one that could threaten the safety of his family. He let the mysterious man keep talking, even though he could not pay attention to anything. Then, he said,

"All right, I'll battle you."

The mysterious man gave him a cruel smile and said

"Excellent. For our battle, you'll only use your Pikachu and I'll use one other Pokémon. Oh and if you ever think of escaping –"

He snapped his fingers and suddenly men and women wearing dark uniforms came out of the forests as well. Tajiri realized he was trapped.

"And if you were to miraculously to escape, remember that your family will also be targeted by us, Team Rocket! Now, someone unbind them."

After being freed from the ropes, Pikachu was recovering consciousness, but did not know what was going on.

"Pi? Pika?"

"Listen Pikachu." Tajiri crouched down for Pikachu to listen.

"Although you've never been in battle before, you have to trust me and do what I say. If we don't win this, I'll probably never see my son again."

At this point, Pikachu was wondering why his new master was leaking water from its eyes. But Pikachu knew that it would do anything to make sure its master would stop leaking.

"Pika!"

Tajiri grinned, thankful that Pikachu was willing to battle despite the fact that it may not win against whatever Pokémon the man would send out.

"All right then Pikachu. Whenever I tell you to do something, you do it, ok?"

"Pika!"

Tajiri stood up and turned to face his enemy. There was barely anything remarkable about the man. His hair was short; he wore an orange suit, and had a normal build, like his brother. It was as if he was somewhat more important than his henchmen. But his eyes. There was a cold dark look in his eyes, yet it gave Tajiri a familiar look. Why?

"All right then, let us begin our battle!" the man cried out.

"Yes. By the way, what is your name? If I'm going to battle you, I might as well know your name" Tajiri boldly asked. The man didn't look at him, but just took out a Pokeball, and threw it. And out came the last Pokémon Tajiri wanted to see – a Meowth.

"My name…is Giovanni!"

Then, everything went too fast for Tajiri. The Meowth pounced on Pikachu, and started to Bite it. Pikachu tried to use Thundershock, but it wasn't strong enough. Then, to Tajiri's horror, he saw that Meowth suddenly evolved into Persian!

"Now Persian, use Power gem!"

That was all Tajiri could hear him say. He was beaten by the rocks until his muscles and bones ached all over. Pikachu was even worse than him. The little electric mouse was very tired and hardly had any energy to stand up. Tajiri knew he had to get it in a Pokeball, even though it has never been in one. Suddenly, an idea struck him. Before Giovanni could command another attack, Tajiri suddenly picked up Pikachu and released his Pidgeot.

"What's this? You know that this is a one-on-one battle, right?"

"I'm through with this battle! Pidgeot, use Sand Attack and Twister combined!" Pidgeot did as it was told, resulting in a cyclone of sediments.

"Crap! I can't get near him! What is he doing?"

What Tajiri was doing is that he was getting Pikachu into a Pokeball.

"I know you might not like being in there, but it's the safest place to be." He proceeded to taking off his belt with all of his Pokémon and put them on Pidgeot.

"You'll have to fly back to Pallet Town without me Pidgeot. I'll make sure I cause a distraction while you fly away"

"Pidgeot…" Pidgeot was not happy with his trainer's command; after all, Pidgeot was the first Pokémon Tajiri ever caught. But it knew it had to obey its master's orders. After the cyclone cleared, Giovanni saw that Pidgeot was flying away. But he didn't care. His major concern was still there in front of him.

"Fufufu, you are pretty courageous. Or foolish. It doesn't matter. As long as you are still here, I won't go through the bother of hunting you down."

"I don't care what you do to me Giovanni! If you hurt my son, I'll make sure you'll pay!"

"Oh don't worry. He's not much use to us now. We'll just wait patiently until he turns 14. Then, he'll be able to fulfill his part out for us."

"Why you bastard! You really are him. You're –"

But before Tajiri could finish, Persian came out of nowhere and used Faint Attack. Before Tajiri could recover, he was grabbed by Giovanni and could barely hear him whisper something that sounded like "I'm sorry". Giovanni then pushed him off the cliff. As he was falling, Tajiri tried to grab a photo of his family and son, but not before Giovanni managed to grab it.

"Farewell, Pokémon master."

As he saw Tajiri fall into the ocean, he couldn't help but noticing how happy Tajiri looked in the photo with his wife and his son. His spiky headed son with hair the as dark as his father's and eyes as soft and brown like his mother's.

"It won't be long for you either, Ash."

He then took out a lighter and started to make the photo burn with the flames.

"It won't be long indeed."

Meanwhile, a certain spiky haired little boy, who was barely nine years old, was staring outside his bedroom window. He was waiting for someone, but he just hated waiting. He felt as if he could have done better things during all that time, but he would wait night and day for this person. Even if it meant staying up after his bedtime, he would wait for him. He started to slowly get sleepy, up to the point where he dozed off. He was then awoken to the sound of a car driving out of the driveway.

"He came!" He thought to himself.

He then started to get off his bed, put on his sandals and open the door, running all the way to the living room. When he got there, however, the person he saw was not the person he was waiting for, but rather his uncle, who had his arm in a sling. He could also see his mother sobbing large tears, as if she was told some horrible news.

"Mom, why are you crying?"

"I should tell him" said his uncle. "Ash, your father is never coming back."


	2. Chapter 1: Ash's Birthday

Aura's Yami: Chapter 1: Ash's Birthday

"Your father is never coming back" He can still remember those words. He can also remember how much he denied those words. He remembered that he ran out of the door, hoping to find his father, but was brought back by his mother. But the one thing that he remembers the most are the words he overheard his uncle say to his mother:

"He would still be alive, if he wasn't going to participate in the championship for his son." However, Ash knew that his uncle was actually saying "He would still be alive, if it weren't for Ash". Over and over again, he heard these words in darkness. Then, the words stopped.

Ash woke up that morning like any other morning. He was sleeping in his sleeping bag near a very pretty forest. The day was calm and beautiful, and the air was crisp and clean. However, Ash couldn't help but think of his nightmare. He'd been getting the same nightmare for nearly a week now. Ever since Ash realized that it's been nearly five years since his father died. He hadn't told anyone of those nightmares; he just assumed they were just nightmares.

"Why do I keep getting these dreams?" Ash thought to himself. "Why do I have to keep remembering? I just want to forget, forget that it was my fault…" But Ash cut himself there. He turned around and realized that he was alone. He could not see Brock or Dawn, his friends and traveling companions. There was no Brock making breakfast ("And I'm so hungry …" Ash thought to himself), there was no Dawn complaining about her hair ("Well that's a relief"), but his best friend Pikachu was nowhere to be found either.

"Oy! Pikachu! Dawn! Brock!" Then, he saw coming out of the forest Pikachu!

"Pikapi!" (Ash!)

"There you are Pikachu! Where've you been buddy? And where's Brock and Dawn?" "PikaPika!" (I know where they are!)

He seemed to want Ash to follow him into the forest.

"Oh, so you know where Dawn and Brock are?"

"Chu!" (Yes. I just told you that)

"All right then, let me get dressed then. I don't want Dawn and Brock to see me in my underwear"

Ten minutes later, Ash was following Pikachu through the forest. Sometimes, Ash couldn't help but think that Pikachu was lost. "Uh, you DO know where to go, right Pikachu?"

"Pika!" (Oh please Ash; I'm not a hopeless wanderer like you)

"Ok then buddy, I'll keep following you." As Ash was walking, he couldn't help but remember that his father died in a forest. At least, that's what his uncle told them. No one could find Tajiri's body, because supposedly the murderer threw him off a cliff. It was even more surprising that Ash's uncle was able to escape with only a gun wound on his arm.

"Why did they have to do that to you dad? And it was all because of me." Ash thought to himself. However, as he looked up, he saw that Pikachu was nowhere to be found. "Pikachu? Oh great, I got separated from him. Pikachu? Pika-!" As Ash was walking, he stumbled across some bushes. When he got out, he could see a playground and some tables decorated for a party. "Huh? What's this?" "SURPRISE!" "Waaaaah!" Ash jumped up and saw that it was Brock and Dawn, along with all of their Pokémon. "Oh that's nice, you guys nearly gave me a heart attack!" "Well that would have sucked, considering it's your birthday" said Brock. "Happy Birthday!" cried Dawn and all of the Pokémon.

"Oh yeah, it's my birthday isn't it?"

"Ash Ketchum, how could you forget your own birthday?"

"Excuse me! I haven't had a birthday party since I was 9!" But before he could say anything else, all of his Pokémon came and dog-piled on Ash. All except Gible, who would rather nom on his head. "Aww, guys! That's so sweet! Gible, stop nomming my head." After everyone got off Ash ("Gible stop! My head isn't that tasty!"), Brock decided to start off with breakfast ("Yay!").

As everyone was eating breakfast, a group of stalkers were eyeing their every movement. As usual, what day would be complete in the lives of Team Rocket if they weren't going to attempt to capture Pikachu? They were all in their Meowth balloon, looking down on Ash and his friends through binoculars.

"Hmm… I wonder why there's so much twerp happiness down there?" said Jessie.

"They looks too happy.." said Meowth.

"Hmm… balloons, cake, presents, streamers, banners. I know! They're celebrating the 4th of July!" said James.

"In May?" asked Jessie.

"Cinco de Mayo maybe?"

"How ya manage ta' live without a brain is beyond me. It's the twerp's birthday!" yelled Meowth.

"Ohhh." Obviously, James wasn't the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree.

"How rude! The twerps have a party and we're not invited!"

"Well James, that's what happens when you're a child stalkers."

"Not ta' mention thieves."

"Well then, let's give them a special guest appearance, as our present."

"Tee-hee-hee! We can't possibly screw up this time!"

"Wobbufett!" (Just wait and see!)

Meanwhile, Ash and his friends were busy getting the dished clean and putting everything away.

"Who would've thought we needed to clean so many dishes?"

"Well Brock, it's all thanks to birthday boy, who ate five servings of pancakes!" "Pancakes!"

"Pika!" (I think I heard something!)

"Hmm? What's up Pikachu? Did ya hear something?"

"Pikachu Pika Chu!" (Of course I heard something! Why must you repeat my sentences?)

Then, everyone could hear a rustling sound in the forest, as if someone was going to come out. "I sure hope it's not Team Rocket again. Can't they fail another day?" said Dawn. However, instead of Team Rocket, a woman came out of the bushes and trees. She had short blonde hair that was in the shape of a crescent, was wearing a blue robe over a yellow dress with what appeared to be decorated with purple crescent moons. She seemed to be talking to herself, apparently lost in her own world.

"Oh honestly, bushes, trees, and branches oh my! I wish I could just teleport."

"Um, hi there."

The woman looked up and finally realized she was with other people.

"Oh hello there! Excuse me for not noticing you earlier…"

As if on cue, Brock approached the young woman, grabbed her hands, and started to say

"With all due respect ma'am, excuse me for noticing your beauty earli-aa!"

However, instead of Croagunk Poison Jabbing him, it was actually Ash who pushed Brock out of the way.

"Hey!"

"Hold on. Could you be Selia from Pallet Town?"

"Huh? And who are you?"

"I'm Ash Ketchum, remember?"

"Oh Ash! I almost forgot about you! Well I didn't forget you because you can never really forget a person, but I had a hard time remembering you!"

"Boy she sure does talk a lot" thought Dawn. "So Ash, how do you two know each other?" she asked.

"I think it's more important to ask how WELL they know each other, don't you think so Dawn?" said a jealous Brock.

"Well actually Brock, Selia and I were neighbors once. Oh yeah, Selia, this is my best friend and failure at love, Brock."

"Thanks for the introduction Ash…"

"And this is my friend Dawn."

"Nice to meet you Selia! I want to know everything about Ash's childhood. And I mean EVERYTHING…"

"Oh, you have lovely friends Ash…"

"That reminds me! You haven't met my best buddy" ("Oh sure, he's his 'best buddy'" thought Dawn) "Pikachu!"

But before Pikachu could introduce itself, a giant plastic ball on a chain came and caught it!

"What the-"

The ball with Pikachu inside was carried away to a Meowth hot air balloon, which had just come out of the forest. "Yay! We caught Pikachu!" said Jesse. "Not only in the ball, but on tape too!" said James, who seemed to be recording with a video camera.

"Of course. Why did I expect anything different? And on my birthday too!"

"Prepare for trouble birthday boy"

"And make it double, we're about to kill your joy!"

"Oh screw this, Pikachu use Thunderbolt!"

"Pi! Pika-CHUU!"

But Pikachu's Thunderbolt didn't seem to do a thing to the ball!

"Huh, why didn't it work?

"You would have thought that after four years of trying to steal his Pikachu he would have learned his lesson." Said James.

"Oy, twerp! Dis ball is plastic, which means dat ya can't zap it!" said Meowth

"Oh no, what are we going to do?" asked Dawn. Everyone was to worried about how to get back Pikachu, but could not think of anything. Then, Ash said "I got an idea! Staraptor, we're gonna fly over there!"

"Wait a minute, fly?" But before Selia could stop him, Ash had already jumped on Staraptor's back and was already flying towards the balloon.

"Does he do that often?"

"Well Selia, I guess you have a lot to learn about Ash."

Meanwhile, Team Rocket also noticed that Ash was flying toward them. "Uh-oh, incoming twerp at 11:00!" cried James. "Really? I thought it was still 10:30 something" said Jessie. "Forget that! The twerp is heading this way!" said James.

"Don't worry my two clueless lackeys; I, the brilliant Meowth, will stop the twerp with my plastic ball!"

"…his what?"

As soon as he said it, Meowth suddenly grabbed the ball's chain and started to swing it back and forth in front of Ash. "Piiiiii!" Pikachu was shrieking out for his friend to hurry up already and save him. Plus, he was feeling dizzy from swinging back and forth. Ash however, found it hard to get close to the balloon with nearly missing the ball.

"Hmm, Staraptor, go up!"

"Star!" (Right)

The ball missed Ash and Staraptor again, but this time Staraptor kept going up and up until Ash finally told it to stop.

"Huh? What's the twerp up to Jessie?" asked James, who was still recording with his camera. His question was soon answered as he saw Staraptor hurdling donw towards them. "Oh no! He's coming, he's coming, he's coming, he's coming, he's coming!"

But instead of going towards Team Rocket, Ash instead jumped off Staraptor and held on the chain of the ball. "Pikapi!" (What the hell was that Ash!)

"Don't worry buddy, I got ya."

"All right, dat's it!" Meowth was furious. "Listen twerp! We've been trying to capture Pikachu for nearly four years! And I'm not going to let it go so easily!" As he was saying this, Meowth lifted his paw, and scratched Ash right in the face. "Aaah!" Ash let go of the chain and grabbed on to the ball instead, nearly falling down.

"Pikapi!"

"Ash!"

"Ooh, that was a good Slash Meowth!" said Jessie. Bu then she noticed that the boy was looking as though he was getting a massive migraine. "Maybe that was a bit too powerful Meowth…" said James, who was now taping Ash. "Hey, he doesn't look to good" said Jessie.

She was right. Ash was feeling as though his head was being pounded and beat every second. "My head…is hurting…so much… please make it stop…" Then he noticed that his vision was getting blurry, and could barely see or hear Pikachu, who was just in front of him inside of the ball.

"Pikapi! Pika pi pika Pikapi!" (Wake up Ash! Don't fall asleep!)

"Pikachu?" said Ash weakly. Then Ash felt as though he was hit with something, like a heart attack or seizure. Then, everything went black.

He couldn't see anything; he couldn't feel anything either. While he was slowly regaining his consciousness, he saw that he was floating in a black void, and could see nothing except his own body. "Where am I? Where's Pikachu? Where are you, Dawn, Brock, Selia?" he cried out their names, but heard nothing. "I'd be happy if I see Team Rocket, just so that I can kick their… huh?" Ash never finished the sentence, because he saw below him a Pokémon battle was taking place. "Huh? There's a battle right below me. Am I dead …again?" he asked himself. He then saw that a cliff materialized underneath the battlers, and the trees, and then people. It was as if Ash was watching a video that was loading itself. He could see one man in an orange suit commanding a Persian and another man in average clothes trying to command a Pikachu, but was obviously losing the battle. He then took out another Pokeball and released a Pidgeot, who started a sand twister of sorts. "Whoa, that guy is awesome! He looks like a good trainer. But why does he look familiar? And what is happening here?" he said, finally realizing the nature of his condition. After the twister disappeared, Ash saw that Pidgeot was coming towards him, and flew straight through him and into another direction. "Waah! It flew right through me! Maybe I am a ghost or something!" Then, Ash saw that the orange suit man was talking with the other man. Ash tried to 'float' forward to try to hear what they were saying, but only got to hear "Why you bastard! You really are him! You're-" But then, Ash saw that the Persian was coming and used a Faint Attack on the man that was talking. The orange suit man grabbed him and then threw him off the cliff, much to Ash's horror. "No! Wait, you can't do that!" But apparently, they hadn't heard him, and Ash saw the man fall to his doom. That's when he saw the man's face clearly. It was his father. "Dad…"

Ash woke up with a start, breathing frantically, as though he had just seen a ghost. "Ash, it's all right, calm down." He saw that Brock was holding him down by his arm, with a worried look on his face. "Brock?" He turned around and saw Dawn and Selia next to him, with an equally worried look on their faces. He then saw Pikachu in front of him, safe and sound, and certainly not in Team Rocket's ball capsule thing. "Pikachu? You're ok!" He hugged Pikachu very tight, to the point where Pikachu was gasping for air. "Ash, let go of poor Pikachu. It had quite enough for today" said Dawn. Ash then looked around and saw he was in one of those rooms for patients in a Pokémon Center. "What am I doing here? Where's Team Rocket?" "Don't worry Ash, Team rocket is far away, and probably won't be coming back" said a voice. Ash turned around and saw that it was Nurse Joy who said that. "Nurse Joy?" "Don't worry Ash, you're quite fine now. After all, your friends brought you in here quite quickly. They said you fell off a hot air balloon and wouldn't wake up." "I did? But guys, what happened?" "Ash, I think it's best if we discuss that alone." It was Selia who spoke up. "Nurse Joy, do you mind?" "Not at all." After Nurse Joy left the room, Selia turned to Ash with a serious look on her face and said, "Ash, do you know about the Dimensional Scream?"


	3. Chapter 2: The Dimensional Scream

**Aura's Yami Chapter 2: The Dimensional Scream **

"Huh, the Dimensional Scream? What's that?" asked Ash, with a confused look on his face. Selia chuckled, and said "Well it's no wonder you don't know; after all, you barely even know the power you yourself contain." Everyone stared at her with a quizzed look on their faces. Selia noticed this and quickly said, "Oops was I talking to myself again? I forget that I'm not alone anymore. Not that I like being alone, but it is…"

"SELIA!"

"Huh, what's wrong Ash?"

You were gonna tell us what this dimensional thingy is."

"Oh yes! The dimensional scream is a ability that only few with your power can have Ash."

"My power?"

"I'll get to that. Anyways, the dimensional scream lets you see into the past and the future."

"But what's my power?"

"So Selia, did Ash see into the past or the future?" asked Dawn.

"I don't know, ask him."

"But what's my power?"

"So wait, how come Ash has it and not anyone else?" asked Brock.

"Well-"

"FOR THE LAST TIME, WHAT IS MY FREAKING POWER!"

As Ash said this, the walls in the room were shaking very hard, as though an unseen psychic force was moving them.

"Waah! It's an earthquake or something!"

Then, as sudden as it started, it stopped. "That was weird" said Brock. "All right then Ash, I'll tell you your power" said Selia, who seemed unmoved by the recent event. Ash, however, was distracted over what happened, and brought himself back to earth.

"Huh, oh yeah sure."

"Do you mind if I tell you in front of your friends? This may or may not be of any importance to them, but it is a very important matter for you."

"I don't care, as long as I know what my power is."

"All right then Ash, the truth is you're actually descended from the old knights of life and justice."

"The what?"

"The Heroes of the Wave. Also known as the Guardians of Aura. "

"Whoa, so I'm a descendent of an Aura Guardian?"

"Not only that, but a reincarnation of one as well."

If Ash was confused before, his confusion now rose even more. "Wait, what's a reincarnation?" asked Ash. "A reincarnation means the rebirth of someone. Everyone is a reincarnation or will have a reincarnation after they die. That's the real life after death." "So Ash is really a dead guy brought back to life?" said Dawn, who was just as confused.

"I think we all are Dawn" said Brock, who was trying to make sense of everything. "But Selia, I don't get it. Was what I had right now a dimensional scream or something? And how do you know all this?" At this last sentence, Selia's face turned noticeably more serious, as if she were about to tell him a very deep and dark secret. The whole room turned quiet, and then Selia finally spoke up. "Ash have you ever heard of the story of the Crimson Aura Guardian?"

"Oh yeah, I heard of that story!" said Ash

"Yeah me too!" said Brock

"I don't get it, what's a Crimson Aura Guardian?" asked Dawn

"It's an old bedtime story that little kids in Kanto were told so that they would go to sleep. I would read that story to my little brothers and sisters."

"Well Brock, it may surprise you to know that it wasn't really a story, it was real."

"Real?" cried out Ash and Brock

"Why, what was it about?"

"Well Dawn, the story begins like this: a long time ago, there was this group of Aura Guardians who came together for a meeting. They sensed that something was wrong with the world's aura and were afraid that the world would fall into darkness because of a dark force. They didn't know what to do, until the youngest one of them spoke up. He was barely 15, and dressed in red robes, which earned him the nickname "The Crimson Guardian". He proposed that someone should go to the island of origin, the Island of Waves and see what was going on."

"The Island of Waves?"

"Yes, according to the story, it where the world's Aura was born, but it is also where the aura goes to die."

"It sounds like a very important place."

"Exactly, which is why it was protected by legendary Pokémon, to make sure nothing bad happens to it. Not many Aura Guardians go to the island."

"Well, why?"

"Because the island is hidden underwater."

Meanwhile, deep in the forest, Jessie, James, and Meowth were still trying to understand their failure this time. On any normal day, they would've shrugged it off, but their most recent failure was quite odd. "I still don't get what went wrong. One minute the twerp was unconscious, and then the balloon just exploded!" said James.

"It was as if a bomb went off, but with the air shaking so violently!" said Jessie.

"Whatever it was, it was nothin' I've seen before…" said Meowth.

"Seen…seen….oh no!" cried out James.

"What is it now James?"

"The video camera! I was recording everything for the boss to see!"

"Well don't worry; we just won't give the tape to da boss!"

"But…I recorded it live…"

"LIVE!" Now Jessie and Meowth were worried. If the boss happened to see how they failed because of Ash, they would be fired, or worse.

"You idiot! You just cost us our jobs!" yelled Jessie, as she started to strangle James.

"Who buys live recorder cameras!"

"I'm…sorry!"

"Maybe da boss didn't see the video, you know how busy he is…" said Meowth, with a hint of uncertainty.


	4. Chapter 3: The Bombing

Aura's Yami Chapter 3: The Bombing

It was beginning to darken as Ash, Selia, Brock, and Dawn went outside of the Pokémon Center. After finally deciding that they would go to Kanto to learn more about Ash's ability, they were going to find the quickest way to get there. "It would help a lot if we knew where we were going" said Brock. "I already told you Brock, the man we are going to go see lives near Cerulean city." said Selia.  
"Now that I think about it, Misty lives in Cerulean city too. Maybe we can go see her, right Pikachu?" said Ash.  
"Pika Pika" (Whatever you want).  
"Isn't that the same Misty who followed you around for a bike? Why would you want to see her?" if Ash didn't know any better, he would have noted that Dawn sounded a little  
bit jealous. But he didn't.  
"Cause, she's a really good friend of mine!"  
"It must be nice to have a good friend, especially if she is a girl, right Brock?"  
"I feel the same way about you!"  
"Okay...so Ash, how long have you and Misty been best friends?"  
"Well..." But before Ash could answer, he felt a sudden feeling in his body, as though he was sensing something.  
"Ash, what's wrong?" asked Dawn.  
"Pikapika"? (Are you ok Ash?)  
"Did you sense something Ash?" asked Selia with a concerned voice.  
"I felt ... as if something bad was going to happen now". Then, Ash looked up to the sky and saw that huge flocks of bird pokemon were coming this way.  
"Whoa, look at all the Pokémon in the sky!" said Dawn.  
"It's almost as if they were running away from something."  
No, you're wrong Brock. They came here for a purpose. If you look closely, you can see what I mean."  
As the birds were coming closer, a logo on their backs was getting more and mote visible: a red R clearly etched on their backs, sides, and underneath them, were carrying what appeared to look like small black boxes.  
"That's Team Rocket's logo! What do they want?" said Ash  
"Look closely Ash" said Selia.  
Everyone turned to look at the birds and realized in horror what they were carrying: bombs.  
"They're gonna bomb us!" cried Dawn.  
"Quickly everyone, into the forest!"  
"What about the Pokémon center?"  
"Don't worry Brock, they can handle any kind of bomb made, but we can't hold off those Pokémon without detonating those bombs!"  
"Selia's right guys! We have to go!" said Ash.  
"Right Ash"

"Jessie, Meowth, come quickly!"  
"What is it now James?"  
"Yea, I'm trying ta get a catnap!"  
"It's a message from the boss! He wants us to go to the secret base  
near Cerulean immediately!"  
"What?"  
"I knew it! He did see our video! We're gonna get fired!" yelled Jessie.  
"Or worse" Jessie and James turned to Meowth, who looked very solemn all of s sudden.  
"What could be worse than getting fired from team rocket Meowth?"  
"Well, he could have us killed."  
Team Rocket quieted down. They knew that they were in a tight spot and could not get out of it as easily as being blasted off. However, they were ready to blast off at any time if it meant that they could escape from all of this.  
"Either way, we should still go and see him. It'll be worse for is if we run away..." said James.  
" Yeah..."

It had been a while since Ash and his friends lost sight of the Pokémon army. Still, they did not let their guard down for a single second, because if the Pokémon army could get lost in the forest, so could they. For now, they were resting for a bit under a tree.  
"Selia, where exactly are we going?" asked Dawn.  
"We're going to my boat and get away from here as far as possible."  
"You have a boat? All this time, and you tell us now!" yelled Brock.  
"Sorry, but I've been a little busy running for my life at the moment!"  
"Selia now is not the time for that! Now tell us where the boat is!"  
But before Selia could answer, a sudden explosion was heard and dust surrounded them. They were all blinded and could barely see each other. As soon as the dust settled a little, Brock got closer to Selia."They must have dropped the bombs to try to find out where we are" said Brock  
"They definitely want something from us Brock! Where are the others?"  
"Selia! Brock! Where are you guys?"  
It was Dawn, who could not see because of the dust. Next to her was Pikachu, who trying to guide her. Brock brought the both of them closer to tree, and then noticed something. "Dawn, where's Ash?"

"Guys, where are you?" Ash was calling out to his friends, and could not see very clearly because of all of the dust. When the dust scattered, Ash had made the mistake of wandering around to try to find his friends, and was soon separated from them. Now, he could not tell where he was. "Dammit you guys, say something!" He then felt the same sensation as before, when it alerted him to the flock of Pokémon. "That feeling again is it trying to tell me something?" he thought.  
"Go left…"  
He turned around, hoping to try and see someone, but could barely see the trees, let alone a person. "Hello? Is there somebody out there?"  
"Turn left...your friends will be there...turn left now…"  
The voice sounded distant and faint, and was beginning to scare Ash a little. He then made out a figure that seemed to belong to a teenage boy about his age. But when he tried to get a closer look, the figure then yelled out  
"Run! They are coming for you!"  
Before he could ask him what exactly, the figure started to run left. Ash then followed him, hoping to get more information. Behind him, a Fearow was pursuing him. Ash tried to keep up with the boy and dodge the Fearow at the same time, but the more he turned, the more Ash lost sight of the boy. Then, Ash lost not only the Pokémon, but the boy as well.  
"Hey! Where are you?" he called out, but heard no one. Realizing he might give out his location easily by shouting, he kept quiet and hid in a nearby bush. The Fearow passed right over him, and while Ash waited for the coast to clear, he kept hoping that his friends were all right. Then, he felt a pull and somebody grabbed him from behind. He tried to struggle away from the person, but stopped when he heard a familiar voice.  
"Pikapi!" It was Pikachu, and next to him were Dawn and Brock. Ash then realized that Selia was the one grabbing him.  
"Boy Ash, you struggle too much. It would be hard to kidnap you!"  
"Sorry Selia, I thought you might be someone else. "  
"Well next time, don't run off like an idiot! Now come on, we have to  
hurry from the Pokémon and go to Selia's boat!" scolded Dawn.

They all went ahead and started to run deeper into the forest until they came across to the edge of the forest. There was a cliff on front of them and some wooden, old stairs that led down the cliff to a dock, where the boat was tied to. "Yes! We're almost there! Let's go...Ash?" Dawn turned to Ash and could see that he looked paralyzed in fear. "Ash, what's wrong?" Ash didn't hear her, Brock, Selia, or even Pikachu. He was remembering what he had seen in the vision. He remembered the battle that took place, and remembered how the man was pushed off the cliff, the man that looked a lot like his father...  
Still in a sort of trance, he didn't notice how Selia was suddenly able to drag him away all the way down the stairs and into the boat. He didn't even wonder how a woman of her size and age even had the strength to carry him. He was just thinking about the murder. Pikachu, being worried about his friend, thunder shocked him a little to bring him back to Earth. Ash snapped out of his trance, and could see he was sitting on a very polished floor. He turned around, expecting that he was in a common boat. Instead, he found himself in a small yacht. "Selia, this is your boat? It looks like a yacht to me." he  
said, oblivious to the fact that everyone was concerned about him.  
"Ash, what happened to you up there? It looked like you were in some sort of trance or something" said Dawn. "Was it from your dimensional scream?" everyone turned to look at Selia, who was looking serious again. Although hesitant at first, Ash answered her in a low voice and said "Maybe. I remembered something from it."  
"Ash, do you think you can tell us something about it?"  
" Yeah Ash, you never told us what it was about." said Brock, in a very calm voice. It got quiet for a while, but Ash finally started to speak. "Well, at first I was like floating in empty space. I couldn't see anything but darkness. After a while, I started to see something. There were two men, and they were having a battle on a cliff. One of them was in an orange suit and had a Persian. The other had a Pikachu, and then he used a Pidgeot to create a sand twister. Then, the Pidgeot left and he had no more Pokémon. They started to speak, but I was too far away too hear them. When I tried to get  
closer to them, the Persian suddenly attacked the second man! I was trying to get closer to them, but the orange suit man grabbed the other man and he...he..." Ash couldn't continue, but he knew that as long as he kept it to himself, he would continue to be bothered by it. "The man was thrown off!" Everyone gasped, but Selia just kept on  
looking even more serious.  
"Is that why you were so scared back  
there?" asked Dawn softly.  
"No" Ash said, with a voice lower than a whisper" it's because I recognized the man that was thrown off."  
"Who was it Ash?"  
"It was..."  
"Your father wasn't it?" All heads turned to Selia. Not only did she look serious, she looked as if she had revealed a grave secret.  
"Selia, what do you mean by that?" asked Brock  
"You see, Ash's father died five years ago. His brother, who was the witness, said that he was thrown off a cliff by another man."  
"That's horrible!"  
"Ash, did you really see your father in the vision?"  
"Yes, but it wasn't that man's fault he died."  
"What are you talking about Ash? You saw him yourself, that man threw your father!"  
"I know, but that doesn't mean my dad died because of him."  
"Huh?"  
"You see, there was this really cool Pokémon league championship that was taking place. I really wanted my dad to enter it so I could tell all the other kids about him. But my mom didn't want him to go, so I got really angry. I kept annoying my dad into going until he finally gave in, even if he didn't want to go. So, he left with my uncle to go to the championship. He told me he would come back in a week, but the week passed and he still didn't come. Then, all of his Pokémon went to Professor Oak, but he still hadn't come. Both me and my mom were getting worried about him, but I was so sure he would come. Then, we got a message that my uncle was coming. I was so sure he came, but it  
turned out that it was just my uncle. He told me that he wasn't coming back... and it was all my fault..."


	5. Chapter 4: The Man in the Cliff

**Aura`s Yami Chapter 4: The Man in the Cliff**

Ash stopped talking, and was now trying to fight his tears. He had expected this, because he had never told anyone what he had felt all these years. The tension had made everyone silent for awhile. No one knew what to say at a moment like this. Even Pikachu, Ash's closest friend, did not know what to do to comfort his friend.  
"Ash, how can you even think that?"  
Dawn broke the silence. She didn't know what to say, but she had to  
confront her friend's troubled mind.  
"Dawn, you know it's true. If it wasn't for me, my dad would still be  
alive. Face it; I bring trouble to everyone..."  
"That's not true Ash! You're one of the nicest people I have ever  
known, and you're a retard for thinking that way!"  
"Brock..."  
"Listen to your friends Ash. They speak not only the truth, but also  
their feelings. Isn't that enough proof that you are not who you think  
you are?"  
Ash kept quiet, not knowing how to answer.  
"Pikapi" (Ash)  
"Huh?"  
"Pikachu chu Pikapi pi Pika pikapikachu!" (You must not be such a bad  
person, because if you were I wouldn't be able to like you as much!)  
Ash had no idea what the little mouse Pokémon just said, but it  
comforted him. "My friends..." Tears started to come out, but he  
didn't care, because his friends had done for him the nicest thing  
anyone could have done in five years: relieve his conscience. Feeling  
tired from all the events that had happened to him today, he calmly  
fell asleep. Selia laid him down on the floor, while Dawn and Brock  
gave him a pillow and blanket. Pikachu left his side, and then  
proceeded to curl up in a ball next to his friend. The sky had already  
darkened, and night began to take place. Even though the yacht was small,  
it was big enough to hold a command room, a bathroom, and a closet  
that held various cleaning objects, a retractable table, and other  
sleeping bags. Brock and Dawn took out their sleeping bags, deciding  
that they would sleep next to Ash.  
"Poor Ash, Brock do you think he'll be alright?"  
"It's hard to tell Dawn. Knowing Ash, he can get over something really  
quickly, but we are talking about his father here..."  
"Now now, I think the both of you should go to sleep already! Ash has  
a tough day tomorrow, and you two should be ready to help him at any  
time. He's going to need it..." Soon, Brock and Dawn fell asleep to  
the rocking of the waves on the boat. They were too tired to think  
about how the boat was moving so fast, so far away from their old  
journey and headed into a new one...

Meanwhile, as Selia's boat continued to head forward, more and more  
rocks were appearing, and soon enough Selia was about to leave the sea  
surrounding Sinnoh. Despite the fact that she could see the rocks in  
front of her in the dark, she couldn't exactly see the man, woman,  
or their Pokémon on one of the rocks, nor a deflated balloon right  
next to them. It's a good thing she was far away from them, because  
their conversation was one that wasn't exactly child friendly. The man  
and Pokémon were trying to inflate the balloon, while the woman was  
just sitting on a rock yelling at them.  
"Come on James! A Jigglypuff could inflate faster than you! Meowth, is  
talking really the only thing you can do right? Why haven't you fixed  
the controls already?"  
"Shut the fuck up Jessie! After all, you're not doing anything!"  
"I don't see why I should!"  
"Well Jess, ya were da one that forgot ta fill up the balloon with  
gas!"  
"Gas, gas, gas, think of it as saving the environment, we could all  
use less gas."  
"Not if we need it to get to the boss!"  
"Shut up! Let's just ask for help."  
"Of course, now who do you want to ask, some person on a yacht?"  
"Hey look guys, a person on a yacht!"  
Jessie and James stopped their arguing and turned to the direction  
Meowth was pointing at. They could also see a pair of bright lights,  
which lit up a small yacht coming their way. Jessie and James were  
dumbfounded, as usual.  
"Well this awkward, isn't it Jessie?"  
"I guess so James. Now, let's go ask the person for some 'help'."  
"Right, 'help'. Mwahaha!"  
"Youse two really shouldn't shout out your 'evil' plans out loud."  
That earned Meowth a pounding on the head from Jessie.  
"Shut up Meowth, hey over here!"  
"If you help us we promise we'll only steal half of your gas!" That  
earned James a pounding on the head from Jessie as well. Despite their  
headache, James and Meowth were frantically waving their arms, trying  
to get the yacht to notice them. However, before the yacht could even  
come their way, it started to glow in a pinkish purplish aura and  
disappeared. Team Rocket was dumbfounded again. Was the boat they just  
saw an illusion, or real? However, there was one thing that was true  
in all of their minds. "Damn..." "Wobbuffet!"

A Flamethrower and a Hydro Pump had collided, causing them to explode  
and create a cloud of heavy black smoke. Afterwards, the smoke  
cleared, revealing a very well trained Arcanine smirking at an equally  
strong Blastoise. Ash was feeling so excited, he couldn't help but  
shout out as the Pokémon dodged so expertly each others moves. This  
time however, he was watching someone else battle. He wasn't sure how  
the battle started, but it was very exciting and showed that their  
trainer was very skilled. Even though this battle was merely a  
training session; if it were a real battle then it would have been  
truly more exhilarating. Nevertheless, Ash and the other spectators  
were enjoying themselves. Now, it was time for both Arcanine and  
Blastoise to use Hyper Beam. But instead of attacking each other, they  
launched the Hyper Beams to the audience! Ash closed his eyes, hoping  
that somehow the Hyper Beams would not hurt him. Five seconds had  
passed, and in those five seconds the crowd had gone from cheering to  
a deathly silence. Ash opened his eyes and was thankful not to have  
been injured. But when he turned around, to his horror, the entire  
audience had completely disappeared! Ash tried to get up and run away  
from here, but was then pinned down by something larger and heavier  
than him. "Ash..." With a chill down his spine, he turned around to  
see that the thing that was holding him down was a man. The man seemed  
to have a very muscular build, but he had messy spiky hair that let  
down on his face. Ash couldn't see his eyes clearly, but his voice was  
the thing that made Ash truly terrified. "Ash...I failed once...but  
now I'm not going to fail again!" Everything turned black, and Ash  
found that he was alone. The field, the Pokémon, even the man, disappeared. But before Ash could think about what was going on, he felt the  
air squeezed out of him instantly. He looked down and saw that his  
lower body was somehow emerged in a shadowy substance that was making  
him go lower and lower. The more the shadow sucked in Ash, the more  
air he was losing. Ash had lost any hope now that he was going to get  
out. With only his head was left, he started to think about Pikachu,  
hoping that it would be al-  
"Pika!"

"Chuuu!"  
"Waaaaaaah!"  
"Pikapi! Pikapi!"  
"Ash, what's wrong?"  
"Wake up Ash, wake up!"  
Ash opened his eyes and saw that Pikachu was right on top of him. Dawn  
and Brock were also standing over him.  
"Huh, you guys were am I?"  
"We're still on Selia's boat."  
"For the last time, it's a yacht!"  
Selia was coming over their way, with a somewhat crossed attitude.  
After all, you should never call a person's yacht just a boat. Right  
on cue, Brock went up and grabbed Selia. "Good morning Selia! I hope  
you're having a beautiful mornyaaa!"  
Right on cue as well, Croagunk came out and greeted its master with a  
Poison Jab. Brock fell, and faintly said "Because I'm sure not."  
"That's nice Brock. Now, what happened to Ash?"  
"I think he had a nightmare. We had to use Pikachu to wake him up."  
"Oy, more like Pikachu's Thunderbolt."  
"So Ash, what was your nightmare about?"  
"Ya know what, I don't even remember it!"  
Everyone sighed, but were relieved that their friend was finally  
awake. "Well I have great news for you all! We are now about to reach  
Kanto!"  
"No way!"  
"Awesome!"  
"Selia, did you take all night to get here?"  
"Maybe, but don't worry about me! I get up with the moon and set with  
the sun."  
"Well if we just got here, then how come the anchor is all wet?"  
"Umm... hey look it's a cliff!"  
Quickly changing the subject, everyone turned to look at the  
approaching cliff. It was not that high and could be reached easily.  
"Selia, is this where that man lives?"  
"No Ash, he lives a mile east from this cliff. No one goes to visit  
him, so he may be a little crazy."  
"How crazy?"  
"Well just don't tell him who you really are. If he asks, you are  
Ashton Ketchup."  
"PikaChuu?" (Ketchup?)

Although Ash and the gang were headed to the cliff, they never took  
the time (or sense) to look over them. A heavily bandaged Meowth  
balloon (cleverly disguised as a cloud) flew right over them and  
landed deep in the forest. Once it landed a duo of very tired humans  
and an equally tired Meowth stumbled out of the balloon. A man in a  
black uniform came over and directed them to an old log cabin.  
However, inside the cabin was a very high tech office with an  
elevator. Jessie, James, and Meowth followed the Rocket Grunt  
grudgingly down the elevator to the bottom floor. When they walked  
out, they were in a large dark room. In the center of the room, a man  
barely visible was sitting in an armchair with a Persian, who was  
giving deadly glances to the trio. No wonder no one would upset  
Giovanni, Team Rocket's Boss. "So, you three are Jessie, James, and  
Meowth, am I correct?"  
"Huh, oh yes sir!"  
"So, is it true that while you were in the Sinnoh region you  
encountered a boy that stopped you from your plans?"  
"Yes! Yes sir! We're so-"  
"Grateful."  
"Eh?"  
"You heard me. I'm grateful because you three have saved me a lot of  
trouble in completing a task for me. Now, I need you to do me  
another favor..."

It took a while, but the yacht finally reached the shore. When they  
unpacked and got off, they still had to walk all the way through a  
forest. Brock and Dawn were about ready to give up and fall down, but  
Ash was determined to go and find the man who could tell him more  
about his abilities. When it seemed that they would never get to a  
cliff, the forest cleared and a plain clearing was visible. A few  
flowers and wild weeds were scattered around, but besides that there  
was no other sign that something or someone was living here. The only  
thing odd about the clearing was a huge boulder, but that was it.  
Everyone looked around, hoping to see more, but they could only see  
the clearing and the edge of the cliff.  
"Selia, are you sure this is the right place? It's deserted."  
"Trust me Brock, this is the place."  
"This is crazy! There's no one here! What do you think Ash? Ash?"  
Brock turned to face Ash, who had a blank and emotionless stare.  
"It was here..."  
"What was here Ash?"  
Ash moved forward, not responding to anyone. He got closer and closer  
to the edge and stopped.  
"Ash?"  
"This was where your father was thrown off, right Ash?"  
"Yes..."  
"Hold on, how did you know that Selia?"  
"The truth is I was there when he was thrown off."  
"What?"  
"Selia, why didn't you tell us before?"  
"I thought Ash was already too depressed to hear it. Sadly, I was too  
late to do anything to save him."  
"You couldn't save him Selia?"  
"No Ash, I'm sorry."  
There was a silence in the air.  
Ash kept his head down, not looking at anyone.  
"Why?"  
"Why what Ash?"  
Then he looked up at Selia grimly and said "Why is it that nobody  
cares about my dad?" He started to backup against the edge a bit more.  
Everyone got nervous, and were all afraid that Ash might throw himself  
off the cliff.  
"Pikapi..."  
"Ash that's not true! Everyone who ever knew him loved your dad very  
much!"  
"Oh please, you would rather save me if I jumped off."  
"Ash no!"  
But before Ash could take a step back, a Thunderbolt hit him. He fell  
foward and was instantly knocked out. Everyone turned to Pikachu, who  
had fired it in a desperate attempt to stop his friend. Selia thanked  
Pikachu for its quick thinking, and started to go over to Ash. But  
before anyone could reach him, a giant mechanical arm came from under  
the cliff and grabbed Ash!  
"Ash!"  
"Listen is that the voice of a- yaaaaawn."  
"Huh, oh yeah, it speaks too loud and near."  
"Oh great, guess who it is."  
A Meowth balloon came up from underneath the cliff and swinging in a  
mechanical arm was a still unconscious Ash. Team Rocket was still  
sleepy and restless from not sleeping for over ten hours.  
"Oh good, it's you losers. I was afraid it could be someone that we  
need to worry about" said Dawn.  
"Hey! We'll have you know that da boss personally sent us to pick up  
da twaaaaaaaaa." Meowth yawned.  
"Yeah! If we're so dumb, then how come we have the twerp?" said James.  
"He does have a point" said Dawn  
"Wait, Team Rocket's Boss sent you to pick up Ash?"  
"Yeah, what's it to ya blondie?"  
"Blondie! Alright Team Rocket, no one steals my friend and insults a  
beautiful woman while I'm around! Croagunk go!" Brock released a  
Pokéball and out came his Croagunk. "Croa!"  
"Good thinking Brock! Piplup lets go!" Dawn let out a Pokéball as  
well, releasing Piplup from it. "Piplup!"  
"You two, make sure you don't hurt Ash, ok?"  
"Don't worry, Team Rocket can't even steal a Pikachu, let alone Ash."  
"We beg to differ twerp! Seviper, go!"  
"You too Carnivine!"  
Both released their Pokéballs and released a Seviper and Carnivine.  
However- "Carnivine! Get off my head and go get the twerp!"  
Carnivine and Croagunk fought off using Vine Whips and Poison Jabs,  
while Piplup dodged Seviper's Poison Tails and launched its  
Bubblebeams. Meanwhile, Selia and Pikachu went to Ash and tried to get  
him out, but not before being spotted by Meowth. "Well ain't dis  
ironic! Pikachu came ta rescue da twerp!" "Pika-Chuuu!" Not amused,  
Pikachu launched a thunderbolt on Meowth and the balloon, which  
conducted the electricity to everyone. Unfortunately, it also conducted  
to Ash as well.  
"Aaah!"  
Pikachu stopped attacking now that its friend was awake. However, Ash  
fainted again and everyone stopped fighting.  
"Ow, Jessie we better (ow) leave before we (ow) get burned to a crisp!"  
"Right, huh, what's up with the twerp?"  
Everyone turned to Ash and noticed that something was wrong with him.  
He kept moving around and twitching around. It wasn't until he started  
to glow in a bluish light that everyone got scared.  
"Brock, is Ash supposed to do that?  
"Umm, I don't know...Selia?"  
"Shh! Everyone back away from Ash as much as possible. You too Pikachu."  
"Pi Pikapi..." (But Ash...)  
At that moment, the bluish light began to surround the balloon and  
started to squeeze it. The tighter it squeezed, the more the balloon  
was compressed. "What the hell is going on?" "I don't know Jess, but  
we better get out before the balloon-" The bluish aura squeezed one  
last time and the balloon exploded. "Damn" thought Selia. Team Rocket  
was sent blasting off into the forest, but Ash fell down towards the  
sea. "Pikapi!" Everyone went over to the edge of the cliff to see  
where Ash fell. What they saw, however, was something they never expected.

He didn't know when he started to climb up, he just did. The feeling when he goes up and sees everything below him let him escape reality. He would climb everything: trees, houses, cars, even his father's shoulders. Everyone knew that Ash loved being up high, even if he was a little short. Why couldn't his father understand that? Whenever Ash would climb up a tree or his roof, five minutes later his father would pick him up and bring him back to Earth. This time, however, Ash had climbed a tree too tall for his father to climb and bring back down. So, naturally, Ash's father did what any father would do: nag his son. "Ash, you have until the count of ten to get down. One!" Ash naturally did what any boy his age would do: ignore and keep on climbing. He even added some taunting for good measure. "Come on dad! Can't climb a tree?" "Three! Four!" Ash laughed and kept on climbing a branch. "Five! Six!" The more Ash went, the less he heard of a creaking sound. The louder he got, the less Ash's father heard of the creaking sound. "Seven! Eight!" When Ash sat comfortably on a branch, he looked on at the amazing view of Pallet Town. "Nine!" But Ash never got to enjoy his view, and his dad  
never got to ten. The branch had already snapped by then. As Ash was falling, he couldn't tell if tine had slowed down or sped up. He closed his eyes, hoping not to see too much of his blood when he hit the ground. Then, he felt something grab him by the ankle and could hear a faint voice. "Boy! Boy wake up! Boy!" Ash opened his eyes and found himself staring at the sea, which was just above him. "Ok, how did I-aah!" He could feel all the blood rushing to his head and started to get dizzy from seeing everything upside down. "What's going on?" "Well my boy, you seem to be hanging around!" Ash felt a tug and was pulled up a bit more. "Waah! Who's there?" "Don't worry, I'm just saving your life, nothing special." said the same voice. Ash felt another tug, and the next thing he knew was that he was lying on a cold rocky floor. He was in a cave, and standing right over him was a man. He looked as if he was in his 30's and looked very shabby and dirty, just like any regular person who lived in the streets. It was hard to tell how his face looked liked, because it was hidden by a very dirty sailor hat (it was once white, but it somehow been turned to a brownish dust looking color). The other thing that hid the man's face was his tangled black beard. Oh, how Ash hated beards. Every morning, he would make sure his dad shaved even the stubs off his chin. Normally, with a beard like this, Ash would have a disgust look on his face, but given the circumstances, he did nothing about it. The man helped Ash to his feet. "You know you shouldn't really jump off cliffs. It's not good for your sanity." "Umm, I'll try not to next time." For some weird reason, the man spoke in a really bad British accent. To Ash, there was something familiar about the man. The man also thought there was something peculiar about Ash as well. "Hey boy, are you queer?"  
"The hell?"  
"Hahaha, sorry kid but it's been a while since I asked somebody that!"  
Whatever feelings Ash had for the man went away immediately.  
"Well thanks for saving my life and stuff, but I think I'll be goi-"  
"Oh but you can't leave now! Your friends are at the door!"  
"Door, what door?"  
"Follow me boy!"  
The man turned and went down the cave, which was like a long corridor. Ash reluctantly went behind him. As he walked, he noticed large piles of dirty clothes ("Oh god" Ash thought), empty bottles of beer ("So he's drunk huh? That explains a lot" and a pile of blankets ("Guess that's his bed, huh? Poor drunken hobo"). There were many rocks and crystals on the ceiling and floor, but it was still wide enough for at least six people to lie in side-by-side. Finally, Ash could see a little light coming from the end. Picking up his pace, Ash stopped and saw the hobo man trying to lift a huge boulder from on top of him. Unfortunately, it wasn't going great for him.  
"And puuuush! And puuuuuuush! Phew, is it me or did this boulder get  
heavier? Oh, little queer dude! Help me lift this boulder please?" the hobo said, in his bad accent.  
"The hell, now I'm little queer dude? And what's with his accent?" Ash thought.  
"Umm, ok." Ash said.  
Ash went over to the boulder, not expecting to make the boulder budge as much. To his surprise, when he pushed on the boulder, it moved upwards by nearly a foot.  
"Whoa, either I'm strong, or the hobo is very weak." Ash thought. The more Ash pushed on it, the more the boulder moved upward until finally it got off and light came pouring in. "Ah! My eyes! Hurry up and come in!" cried the hobo.  
"Uh, Ash is that you?"  
"Dawn!"  
"I think this one is Ash."  
"Brock!"  
"Pikapi!"  
"Pikachu!"  
Everyone went down the hole and tightly hugged Ash, glad that he was alright. Pikachu was nearly suffocated in the hug, but once it left it got picked up by the hobo. "My, what a cute Pikachu! It's obviously been well trained, haven't you?" said the hobo. Before Pikachu could Thundershock the man, Selia came in. "Oh god, you don't know how grateful I am. Thank you so much Jerry!"  
"Jerry?"  
"Oh right, where did I lose my manners? Jerry's the name, and aura's my game!"

* * *

Author´s Note!

Sorry for the confusion everyone, I hope I made it easier for you. Anyways, thanks for the reviews and for pointing out my mistake, even if I did realize it was midnight. WHich makes me wonder, why would anyone read a fanfic in the middle of the night? The same goes for me I guess. I´ll be updating soon, don´t worry!


	6. Chapter 5: The Kidnapping

Chapter 5: The Kidnapping

"What? You're the man that's an expert on aura?"  
"I don't mean to brag but, I'm not an expert, I'm a master."  
"Right, Selia can I talk to you alone?"  
Selia nodded, and as they went outside, Ash swore he heard Jerry mutter something that vaguely sounded like "Bye bi". Once Ash was sure that no one (especially Jerry) could  
hear, he turned to Selia and said "What the hell Selia? This is the  
aura expert?"  
"I know he may not be what you expected..."  
"Expected! He's a tramp! How could he teach me about aura? He's  
immature, dirty, and he's insane!"  
"He saved your life didn't he?"  
"Yeah, well that was by luck!"  
"You'd be surprised Ash. Get to know him a little, then you might like  
him better."  
"Alright then, but it'll be pretty hard with that beard of his. And  
if he calls me queer kid one more time..."  
Selia laughed, and as she walked with Ash back to the cave she kept  
thinking "Oh Ash, if only you knew."

"So, you failed to retrieve the Ketchum boy." Back in the same dark  
room as before, there were three agents who had just come back after  
being blasted off once again. Giovanni was sitting in his armchair with  
Persian on his lap his face too dark to show any emotion to the  
agents. The three of them were kneeling down, but it was very obvious  
that they were deeply frightened. One of the agents (James) started to  
speak "But sir, you never told us he would explode."  
"What? What do you mean he exploded?"  
"Well sir, we captured him just fine, but then his Pikachu used  
Thunderbolt on us, and next thing we knew he started to glow blue  
again and our balloon explo-"  
"Wait, again?"  
"Yes, yesterday when we tried to steal his Pikachu he started to glow  
blue too."  
Giovanni was silent and deep in thought. Then he chuckled and said  
"Well, I thank you for your work and for helping me prove something.  
Now go and take a nap somewhere in the building. You three deserve it."  
Grateful, the three agents immediately left the room to take a well  
earned nap. Once he was alone, he turned to his Persian and said "Now  
that we know that his power has been activated, let's test it out,  
shall we?"  
He pressed a speaker button on his chair and spoke into it "Send some  
troops over to Cerulean city, order 1412-K. Oh, and make sure she is not harmed."

The sun was high in the sky and shining brightly. However, to Ash, it  
seemed to mock him. He was inside the cliff, helping to set the table  
so that they could eat lunch. However, Jerry kept standing over Ash,  
talking to him in his crazy accent about the most insane things. The  
worst part about it was that Jerry kept calling him queer kid. "So  
anyways queer kid, I was in de forest, hunting fir shiny Pidgeys when suddenly!"  
"...What happened?"  
"I dunno, I forgots."  
Ash would have screamed if it weren't for the fact that Brock had just finished dinner. While all the Pokémon were eating outside, everyone was eating inside. Jerry sat away from everyone (which is how Ash preferred it) still muttering to himself. "Soup, when I was younger we didn't have soup in a can. We had to grow our soup ourselves!"  
Jerry was so focused in his muttering that no one with common sense would disrupt him. So, naturally, Dawn went up to him and started to speak to him nervously "Umm, excuse me Jerry..."  
"You're excused."  
"No, what I mean to say is that I don't think we properly introduced ourselves."  
"Oh right! Where are my manners?"  
"Probably in the same place where he lost his sanity" Ash whispered to Brock. Brock laughed nervously and said "Well I'm Brock."  
"And I'm Dawn."  
"And I'm-"  
"Ashton!"  
Everyone turned to look at Selia strangely. Selia looked slightly  
nervous, and stared at them as if she was saying Go with it.  
"So you're Down, Brick, and Ashitaka, is that right?"  
"Umm, more or less" said Ash. "At least he stopped calling me queer  
kid" he thought.  
"So Selia, what brings you here?"  
"Well, you see..." Selia told Jerry everything, from Ash's birthday  
party, the dimensional scream, and when Jerry saved Ash. During the  
whole time Selia was speaking, Jerry looked very serious. Ash wondered  
if he was actually listening. When Selia stopped talking, Jerry kept  
staring and looking serious. "So, what do you think Jerry?" Jerry kept  
silent, and then a snoring sound came from him. "What the-?" Selia  
went over to Jerry and tapped him. Another snore came, and Selia cried  
out "Oh I don't believe this! He fell asleep with his eyes open!"  
"Of course, why'd I expect anything different?"  
"Now hold on there queer kid!"  
"I'm not queer, and how are you awake?"  
"Don't worry; I do that all the time. So, from what I hear you have  
the dimensional scream ability, am I right?"  
"Uh, yeah so can you teach me about it?"  
"Of course I will!"  
"Really?"  
"After I drink my sake."  
"...Your sake?"  
"Yes! It's the most delicious drink on this planet!"  
"Hey Brock, isn't sake a type of wine thing?" asked Dawn.  
"Well that would explain a lot..."  
Ash, however, was not amused.  
"What the hell? You're supposed to teach me about Aura, not get  
yourself drunk!"  
"Nag nag nag, why must you talk so much queer kid?"  
Ash was at his breaking point. He was so angry; his head was hurting  
and forming a sort of migraine. He decided to calm down in order to  
stop his headache, but it wouldn't go away. The headache got  
worse, then Ash's vision got blurry and he himself was feeling sick.  
Dawn and Brock noticed this and asked him what's wrong. Pikachu came  
down and sensed that something was wrong with Ash.  
"Nothing nothing, I just feel a little sick."  
"Hey queer kid, you better sit down 'cause you look awful."  
As Ash was about to sit down, he felt a sudden jolt in his chest, as if he was having a heart attack. Then, everything flashed white for a second, and then turned completely black…

Ash woke up slowly, and saw that he was floating in darkness again, just like when he had his dimensional scream vision. "This looks…a lot like last time. Am I having another vision?" He turned around in every direction, hoping to see anything. When he turned around, he saw a faint and small light that was building up and growing. As Ash was walking towards it, the light completely erased all traces of the darkness, and soon ground and shapes were beginning to form. The shapes turned into houses, and the ground was a clean concrete road. Ash figured he must be in a town or city of some sort and continued to walk along the road. Then, the road stopped in front of a pink and yellow domed, circular building. The walls were painted yellow and had two glass doors, with more windows at the side. On the edges of the dome were white waves and in the middle and right above the front entrance was a giant cutout of a Dewgong. Ash realized he was at the Cerulean City gym. "Huh, why am I at the Cerulean gym?" Then the glass doors opened and out came four girls. Three of them were of the same height and age and were incredibly beautiful. They had blonde, blue, or pink hair, and looked as if they were all in their early twenties. The other was shorter and younger than them, but she had orange-red hair, and was held up in a spiky ponytail and was holding in her arms a sleeping Azurill. "Misty…" It had been a long time since he had seen Misty and was very glad to see her again. "Hey Misty, it's me Ash!" He waved his arms and called out to her, but she made no reaction to him. "Oh yeah, I'm in a vision, so she's technically not real" he sighed half-heartedly. Misty then started to speak to the three woman (Ash remembered that they were her sisters) "All right then guys, I'll be back from the Cerulean Cape in a while, okay? Make sure you don't blow up the gym while I'm gone!"  
"Geez Misty, the way you talk to us makes it, like, seem you're the older sister" said Violet.  
"Yeah, Misty, what do you think we are, stupid?" asked Lily.  
"Well…"  
"Okay girls, no need to fight" said Daisy. "You go have fun Misty, you deserve a break."  
"Thank you Daisy."  
"Oh, I just wished your boyfriend was here to take you to the cape. It's so sad when a girl has to go alone."  
"Violet! For the last time, he's not my boy friend! He's a boy and he's a friend, but he's not-"  
"Your boyfriend, we know, we know. Just leave already!"  
Misty stomped off fuming, and the three sisters chuckled and went back inside. Ash (who was just standing there) said to himself "Huh, so Misty has a crush on someone. Oh well, sucks for that guy. I can't imagine Misty in love." He was glad that no one could see him blushing. As Misty was walking further and further away, Ash felt some sort of pull on him that made him keep on following Misty. "I might not get this vision, but it's actually kind of fun. I wonder how Misty's boyfriend is like. Probably stupid, if he actually wants to be around Misty and her temper." There was a small hint of jealousy in his voice, and as he walked he couldn't help but admire the sunset. "It sure is pretty…"he thought to himself. Then a large black van rushed past his way. Ash yelled angrily to the van. "Retard, watch where you're going! …Oh yeah, I'm in a vision." The van continued and stopped a few feet in front of Misty. Three men stepped out of the van's side door and approached Misty. Misty, who was confused and worried, backed up a little and said "Yes, can I help you?" One of the men spoke in a harsh voice and said "Yes, are you by any chance Misty Williams of the Cerulean gym?"  
"Yeah, so what?"  
"Well ma'am, we just need you to come with us for a moment."  
"Listen, I don't know who you are or what you want, but you better stay away from me, unless you want me to teach you a lesson!"  
"That's right Misty; don't let them hurt you without a fight!"  
"Now now, where has violence ever gotten us? Let's treat this like a civilized adult, ok kid? Hypno, go!"  
The man released a Pokeball and out came a Hypno. Misty took out a Pokeball as well and threw it in the air, releasing her Staryu. "So if it's a battle you want, it's a battle you'll get! Staryu, use water gun!" Staryu released a powerful water gun that quickly knocked the men and Hypno off their feet. Misty recalled Staryu and used this time to escape, while Ash followed her, angry that he could not do anything to help her. Ash looked back and saw that the Hypno and its trainer had gotten back up and heard the man say "Use Hypnosis!"  
Hypno started to move its pendant side-to-side, and let out a pink wave directly to Misty. Misty stopped in her tracks and fell unconsciously on the floor with Azurill as well. "Misty!"  
"Hypno return. Now, go and take her to the van and tie her up well." The same man took out a small device that looked like a cell phone and spoke into it. "Sir, Order 1412-K is completed, and there is not a scratch on the target. We are now returning back to base." He closed the cell phone and returned to the van. Ash, seething, started to run up to him when suddenly the whole vision dissolved, and the darkness had come back again. "What the-? What happened? I've gotta know what happened to Misty!" Then, just like before, a light started to grow from behind him and quickly engulfed the darkness again. This time, the ground was grassy and there were trees everywhere. It looked just like the forest near the cliff. It was very quiet, but then Ash saw the black van come through the trees and directly his way. Not having enough time to dodge, the van went through Ash, literally. As if he was a ghost, the van simply passed through Ash. As the van continued to drive on, Ash kept running towards it, not feeling the least bit tired and was determined to find out about his friend. After a period of time, the van stopped in front of a small log cabin. It looked old and deserted, as if it hadn't been used in years. However, the odd thing was that its doors looked completely new and very well polished, which Ash wondered why. Then, the van's side doors opened and the same man who had the Hypno had come out. Behind him two other men in black uniforms were carrying a figure with a bag on its head. Then, the cabin doors opened and out came a man with an orange suit, with a Persian by his side. Ash couldn't help but wonder why the man felt familiar. Then, the man walked closer to the figure and took off the bag and Ash gasped when he realized it was Misty, who had a blank stare in her eyes, as though she was in a trance. The man chuckled, and faced the men holding Misty.  
"Hmm, good work agents. I take it she's just hypnotized, right?"  
"Yes sir."  
"Alright then, let's wake her up, shall we?" The man snapped his fingers and immediately, Misty woke up.  
"Huh, w-where am I?"  
"Now now my dear, you have no reason to be afraid. That is, if you cooperate."  
"Who are you, and why'd you kidnap me?"  
"It's not kidnapping, we merely brought you here for you to help us with something, and then we'll let you go. That's not the sort of thing kidnappers would do now would they?"  
"Well why do you need my help?"  
"The truth is, we need you to help us 'communicate' with someone, someone you know."  
"And what makes you think I'll help you?"  
"Simple, help us or I'm afraid your Azurill won't be so cheerful anymore."  
Misty turned around and was horrified to see a man holding Azurill with a knife pressed against its throat. Azurill was crying, and had a look on its face that said "help me mommy". Misty, unable to see her baby Pokémon like this, agreed to helping. The man smirked and said "Excellent, maybe you won't be as useless as I thought. Now, all I want you to do is cry out the name of your friend, Ash Ketchum." Now both Ash and Misty's eyes widened. Why would this crazy man want Misty to call out Ash's name?  
"What? You kidnapped me all this way just to say his freaking name, I mean what the fuck?"  
"I'm sorry, but my motives are highly classified. So will you please say his name?"  
"No! Who the hell are you?"  
The man chuckled, and said "Unfortunately for you, I am known around here by my agents as Giovanni, boss of the one and only Team Rocket." He opened his suit and revealed a badge with a shiny red R. Misty gasped, and Ash realized who he was. He was the man he had seen in his first vision. He was the man who murdered his father. Giovanni turned to Misty and said in a threatening voice, "Now for the last time, say his name!"  
"Oh I'll say his name. Ash Ketchum, you better not come rescue me! Forget about me Ash, just don't come here!" She tried to run away, but the Hypno had come out and used Hypnosis on her again. "Tie her up and take her to her room, she's going to be more trouble than we realized." Two men came and took Misty away in the building. Everyone left as well, leaving Giovanni and Persian alone outside. Ash was seething in anger, and right now all he wanted to do was to get his revenge on Giovanni. But then, Giovanni started to speak. "So Ash, I hope you saw all that." Ash was confused, how could Giovanni talk to him? Wasn't this all a vision? Giovanni continued, "Well then Ash, I don't know if you know this already, but I was the one who pushed your father off the cliff. I f you want to save your friend and even take out your revenge on me, I'll be right here. I'll be waiting for you Ash…"

"Ash, Ash, Ash!"  
"Wake up Ash!"  
Ash was still unconscious, and was now lying on a pile of blankets, with everyone surrounding him. Pikachu was worried and angry, if he had used his thunder shock, Ash would be wide awake right now. But Jerry told him not, apparently because he was afraid that the jolt might interrupt the vision that Ash was having. No one else but Jerry cared about the sort of vision Ash was having, but decided it was best not to go against him. Ash was trying to wake up, but it was as though he wouldn't just yet.  
"Oh let me try, queer kid, I'm harboring a secret gay crush on you!"  
Not waiting a second, Ash immediately sat up straight looking bewildered.  
"What?"  
"Hahaha, I'm just kidding kid. Man, you're too gullible."  
"No, not that, we have to leave now!" Ash stood up and grabbed his bag, hat, and Pokéballs but was stopped by Selia. "Ash wait, what are you doing?"  
"He kidnapped her, that murderer kidnapped her!"  
"Ash, what are you talking about?"  
"Was it about your vision?"  
Everyone turned to Jerry, surprised at his sudden seriousness.  
"Why so serious Jerry?" asked Ash.  
"I don't know what your vision was about, but I can tell it was very important, so unless you stay here and tell us what it was about, we may not be able to help you."  
Ash hesitated, and decided that the quicker he told them the quicker he would go and save Misty. Ash told them everything in the vision (except the boyfriend part) and left them with a worried look. Brock was the first one to speak, "I can't believe that Misty got kidnapped…"  
"Poor Misty, what should we do?"  
"Well, we're gonna rescue her, right Pikachu?"  
"Pika!"  
"Hold on Ash." Selia motioned Ash to stop, and immediately Ash turned to her.  
"But Selia, my best friend is in danger, I can't stay here!"  
"Ash, as honorable and noble as your intentions are, you can't just go in Team Rocket's headquarters and expect it to turn out right."  
"But…"  
"Queer kid, Selia is right. Besides, we don't even know if your friend was kidnapped! It may very well be a trap."  
"Wait, what do you mean we don't even know? I just had a vision about it!"  
"Well Ash, the thing is that according to history, it is very hard to distinguish the Dimensional Scream visions from the past and the future."  
"So wait, Misty might not have been kidnapped?"  
"Maybe, but she might have been as well, there's no way of telling."  
"If you want Ash, I could go to Cerulean City and ask her sisters. I'll go alone, since it's possible that Giovanni already knows about Brock and Dawn."  
"Thank you Selia, but be careful."  
"Don't worry, I will." Selia went out the hole and continued on to the forest. Having nothing else to do, Jerry immediately started to walk around the cave, searching for something. Annoyed, Ash asked him what the hell he was doing. Jerry replied with a big grin and said "I'm trying to see where Selia hid the sake, she's wanted me to quit for a while but I can't help it! I love it!" He maniacally laughed and started to take out an odd cup that looked as though it was made from a Shellder's shell. Ash was too afraid to ask how Jerry made it, so he decided to change the subject. "So Jerry, are you going to teach me about aura soon? 'Cause that would help me a lot when I go save Misty and-"  
"For the last time, you are not going anywhere until Selia comes back!" Jerry had changed from happy maniac to angry maniac. Then, as quick as he had changed moods before, he turned happy again and said "Well since you're here, I might as well teach you about aura, right?"  
"I guess…" said Ash, taken back by the sudden mood changes.  
"So queer kid, what do ya wanna know?"  
"Well, (stop calling me queer!) I wanna know what reincarnation is. How can I be me and another person at the same time?"  
"You mean like the Crimson Guardian?"  
"Well yeah."  
"You see, when we die our aura and soul is released from our bodies and goes to this place called Wave Island."  
"Wave Island?"  
"Yes, it is a place where auras go to be reused for future life. Your aura might be passed down by someone in your family, like an offspring, but your soul will remain in another dimension. The reason why they call you are reincarnated from the Crimson Guardian is because you share the same aura, which is common among Aura Guardians. Do you get it now?"  
"Barely…" Brock and Dawn were as lost as Ash was, while Pikachu had fallen asleep a while ago. Ash, however, was still determined to know more about aura. "So Jerry, can you teach me how to use my aura?"  
"Huh? Oh no, I couldn't possibly do that. I just don't use aura anymore kid. It's a long story."  
"Oh."

Selia kept walking down the path towards Cerulean, deep in thought. Even though she trusted Ash and he was like a brother to her, she couldn't help but hope he was wrong. His vision was obviously a trap, but despite that Ash would still go ahead and find Misty. Selia chuckled to herself, remembering a time when Ash would hate being with girls. "He's really grown up, hasn't he?" She looked towards the sunset with a sort of sad look on her eyes, but was snapped out of it when she heard a loud honking noise. Selia turned to see a black van coming towards her! She stepped out of the way quickly, and the van barely missed her. She sighed, but was then reminded that Misty was taken away in a black van around sunset. She chased after the van, but it was too late. It was gone.

The sun had gone down now, and Ash and Dawn were busy preparing the table while Brock made the food. Pikachu was helping putting some candles Jerry had so it wouldn't be too dark, while Piplup had come out to help Dawn. Jerry, on the other hand, was passed out from drinking his sake. All in all, it seemed pretty normal. Then Selia came in. She came running, so naturally, she bumped into Piplup who was sent flying through to Dawn, who landed on the table and spilled a pitcher of water. Ash went to help her up, but slipped on the water and fell on Jerry. Only Brock was standing up normal, but all his normality left as soon as he went to Selia.  
"Selia my dear, what happ-argh!" Croagunk came out and gave him another Poison Jab.  
"Oops, sorry everybody."  
"Piplup get off of me!"  
""Huh, hey queer kid, why are you on me? I'm not queer, but if you want…"  
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"  
After all the chaos, everyone finally calmed down to listen to what Selia had to say. After Selia had recounted her tale, Ash was seething inside. Team Rocket had just kidnapped his best friend while he had just sat there. "Ash…" Jerry reached out towards Ash and spoke in a tranquil voice. "Ash, I know you blame yourself for your friend's kidnapping, but you must not do anything rash. This could very well be a trap." Ash was still and silent. Then he looked up at Jerry with a small smile and said "You're right Jerry. Maybe we should come up with a plan to save her tomorrow. Right now, let's eat!" Dawn seemed to buy Ash's behavior, but Brock and the others were still suspicious. They continued with dinner, which was fairly silent, with the occasional quarrel between Jerry and Ash. After dinner, the gang changed into their pajamas and took out their sleeping bags. "Boy Pikachu, after a day like today I'm all tired out. I can't wait until tomorrow!"  
"Pika!" (Me neither!)  
"All right then guys, sleepy time! We have a long day ahead of us." Jerry took the candles and one by one blew them out. With only the moonlight coming in from the cave entrance, the cave was completely dark. It was so dark; anyone could have come in or out and not be noticed. Due to being so close to the ocean, the waves could be heard from the cave, sloshing and splashing against the cliff. After a while, it came to the point where Dawn just had to go to the bathroom. When she got up, she tried her best not to trip anyone, but that didn't last long. She tripped over something hard and fell over it. She realized she was where Ash was sleeping. "Sorry Ash" she whispered. Ash didn't reply. "Boy, he really is a hard sleeper." She tried to pick herself up from him, but the moment she touched him, she felt something weird. Instead of smooth skin, she felt something hard and uneven. "He really is a hard sleeper, literally. What's wrong with him?" She threw back the covers and screamed. Everyone woke up and asked her what was wrong. "I-it's A-ash! H-he t-t-turned into s-s-stone!" Everyone turned to Ash's sleeping bag, and there were his pajamas. But instead of having a human boy, there were piles of rock in them. "Selia, where did Ash go?" asked Brock  
"My guess, he went to Team Rocket's headquarters."  
"Oh no."  
"So wait, Ash didn't turn into stone? Oh I'm so glad!"  
"Sorry Dawn, but now that Ash is gone, he's gonna wish he was stone after I'm through with him!"


	7. Chapter 6: The Rescue

Chapter 6: The Rescue

Walking through a forest at night is never a good idea, what with all the trees to bump into and all the Pokémon out hunting for a meal. Normally, any sensible person would just stay put somewhere and wait until morning to start moving again. Unfortunately, Ash wasn't a sensible person, which is understandable considering his situation wasn't normal either. After dodging what was his 48th tree and evading a hungry flock of Murkrows, Ash had finally come across the cabin he had seen in his vision. He hid behind some bushes with Pikachu, making sure he was unseen. For Ash, it was hard to believe that Team Rocket would actually set up their base in an old cabin. Not only that, but there was only one guard outside, who was wearing a black jacket and hat as uniform and was the same height as Ash, even if he was hunchbacked. "Boy, no wonder Team Rocket fails every time, they really are stupid!" he thought to himself. Pikachu, on the other hand, was still unsure about the whole thing.  
"Pika…" (I dunno…)  
"You're right Pikachu; we have to be careful around here. Now how do we get in?"  
"Pi…PiPikaChu!" (Hmm…oh I know!)  
"What's up Pikachu, do you have a plan?"  
"Pi! Chu PikaPika…" (Yes! Now listen closely…)  
Pikachu pantomimed his planned to Ash, who also agreed to the plan.  
"Alright then, let's give it a try. Monferno, come out!" Ash took out a Pokeball and released Monferno. Hoping nobody heard him, Ash quietly explained the plan to Monferno, and Monferno eagerly agreed. Monferno stepped out and went over to the guard, stealing his hat in the process. "Wha-?" The guard, surprised that a Monferno stole his hat quickly went over to the bushes and trees where it disappeared. A punch and a thunderbolt later, the guard came out awkwardly from the bushes, moving slowly to the cabin's door. He looked for his I.D in his pockets, took it out to open the door, and was somewhat surprised at the fact that the cabin's inside was so high-tech. "You there!" The guard turned nervously to another grunt, who was caring a tray of food. "Umm, yes sir?" the guard replied nervously. "I need someone to take this tray of food to the hostage down in room 3-B, can you do that?" Relieved, the guard took the tray. For a split second, the grunt thought he saw a smirk on the guard, but it went away quickly. "So, uh, how do I get to the room?" asked the guard. "Ugh, all you have to do is use the elevator" the grunt said. "God, is it me or are new recruits getting dumber and dumber?" he thought. The guard made his way to the elevator (which he had not noticed before) and went inside. Before pressing a button, he checked to make sure no cameras were around. After a while, he sighed and took off his jacket. However, instead of a hunched back, there was a backpack! A muffled sound could be heard from inside the backpack, and it didn't take a genius to know that it sounded angry. "Sorry Pikachu…" the guard opened the back pack and out came Pikachu, angry and annoyed. The guard took of his hat, revealing a messy spiky head of black hair.  
"Boy, I never thought it would be this easy. They practically want us to save Misty!" "Pika Pikachu Chu Pika Pi." (That's what worries me.)  
"Now, let me find which floor she's in. Let's see…"  
"Pi ka Chu Pi" (Try floor 3)  
"Let me try floor three!"  
"Pika!" (Good job!)  
Ash pressed the button, and as the elevator went down he told Pikachu to get back into the backpack. Pikachu reluctantly agreed, and once again Ash had taken over the guise of the hunchbacked guard. When the elevator stopped, Ash got out and was surprised that there was no one was around. As he walked through the halls, he found two grunts fighting near a door. One of them was short and had a gruff voice, while the other was tall and sounded shrill. "Look, I don't care what the boss says, I ain't goin' in there!" said the short one.  
"What are ya lookin' at me for? Last time I went in she grabbed the fork and started to jab me with it!"  
"Sucks, she tried to break my nose with a spoon. Damn, couldn't the boss have kidnapped a different hostage?"  
Hearing this, Ash immediately knew it was Misty. Now, all he needed was to get past those grunts. "Hey you!" he called out. The grunts turned to Ash and smirked at the sight of the hunchbacked guard. "Um, I was supposed to carry this tray to the hostage, but I don't know where she is. Can you tell-" Before Ash could finish, the grunts had already grabbed him and pushed him inside the room. "Why she's right here, but be careful, she bites!" said the short one. Once Ash was inside, the grunts left, laughing to themselves about Ash's future demise. Even though the room was dark, Ash could still make out Misty's figure in the dark. She was sitting in a chair, which was the only thing in the room besides a toilet and sink in the corner. Misty looked as if she was sleeping peacefully, so it was a big surprise to Ash that when he went over there, a fist had suddenly made contact with his face, knocking him down on his back.  
"Ow, what the hell?"  
"Listen pal, I don't care if you are hunchbacked, but Team Rocket isn't keeping me here any longer!"  
Misty got up from her chair and was about to kick Ash, but not before he dodged out of the way.  
"Misty, it's me Ash!"  
"Nice try Quasimodo, you might know everything about me and Ash, but you can't possibly him. Ash isn't that ugly!"  
"Oy oy, what do you mean ugly!" Then from his jacket, out popped Pikachu, who was very angry that Ash had fallen on him. However, his expression soon changed when he saw Misty. "Pikachu-Pi!" (Misty!)  
"Huh, Pikachu? But if you're here then…" Misty was both embarrassed and shocked as she realized that she had just punched Ash.  
"So, I'm that ugly am I?" Ash was standing up, brushing the dirt off his shirt and took off his hat. Embarrassed, Misty gave him a small apology. "Jeez, out of all the people to be kidnapped, why Misty? I bet Tracey or Gary wouldn't have been this rough on me." Ash thought bitterly.  
"Umm, sorry Ash."  
"Yeah, sorry my a-"  
"Anyways, what are you doing here? And how did you know I was here?"  
"It's sort of a long story."  
"Well why'd you come here then? Didn't you hear me say not to come here?"  
"But I just had to come Misty; I couldn't let you stay here with those murderers!"  
"Ash what are you talking about?"  
Ash was quiet, but then decided to tell Misty about everything, his birthday, Selia, the Dimensional Scream, Aura, and Jerry. It took a while for Misty to believe everything, especially the part about Ash seeing his father's death through a vision. She always knew Ash was special, but never did she think he would be THIS special. "Well Misty, now that you know everything, can you come back with me for a while, just until you're safe from Team Rocket." Misty was surprised, and found herself blushing at this. "Well Ash, of course but how are we going to get out of here? We can only go up through the elevator, but everyone will see us. Besides, even if we got out through the window, we'd need a Pokémon to dig through it."  
"Window, what window?"  
"It's a bit dark, but if Pikachu could just lighten up the room a bit…"  
"Alright then Pikachu, light up a little please!" Pikachu lit up its cheeks, and sure enough there was a large window big enough for a person to fit through. The only problem was that soil and rocks were blocking the outside of the window. Ash went over to the window and to his surprise it was unlocked and opened it with ease. Soil came through the room, but it didn't matter since Ash had found a way to escape. "Alright, if I use Monferno and Gible to dig us out, we can escape without anyone noticing us!"  
"Um Ash, there's a small problem."  
"What Misty?"  
"Well you see, Team Rocket took all my Pokémon away."  
"What? Do you know where they are?"  
"No, but I bet some grunts around here do."  
"Hmm…" Ash had gone in thought again, but quickly came up with an idea.  
"I've got something, and I'll need your help."

The two grunts were getting somewhat suspicious by now. Normally, a person would not last five minutes with the hostage unless they wanted to come out beaten up and bloody. But the hunchback they had sent to deliver the food was taking much too long inside. They decided to check what was going on inside, for all they know the hostage could be capable of beating someone to smithereens. When they approached the door, they started to hear a loud scream that belonged to the 'guard'. "Waah, help! This girl's crazy!" The shorter grunt opened the door and asked him what was wrong. "Sh-she's taking off her-" But before the 'guard' could finish, a mallet and a face had already found its way into the faces of the two grunts. Both were instantly knocked out with one hit and had large bruises on their faces.  
"Darn, I really wanted to finish that sentence."  
"You better not, or else I'll use my mallet on you!"  
"Where did you get the mallet?"  
"Mwahaha, nowhere."  
"Ok… whatever, grab them and start plan B!"  
They grabbed the grunts and stuffed them to a closet, but not before taking their clothes so that Misty could disguise as a grunt as well. But as Misty was taking off the clothes of the grunt, he was starting to regain consciousness and to his surprise saw Misty taking off his shirt. So, naturally, one thing came to his mind. "WHAT THE F^CK ARE YOU DOING TO ME!"  
"Oh good, you woke up."  
"Listen little girl, I don't know what is going on, but I do know that what you're about to do is illegal in 80% of the world!"  
"You sick pervert, I wasn't going to do that to you! Now I want answers, and I want them now. Where are my Pokémon?"  
The grunt, glad that he wasn't about to do what he believed, answered meekly "Well, they're on this floor, in room 3-P, but that's all I know, I swear!"  
"Why thank you very much." Misty took out her mallet and knocked it against the grunt, returning him to unconsciousness. She changed into the uniform (uncomfortably) and joined Ash. She told him about the room and the two of them quickly made their way to it. However, they were surprised to find three very familiar Team Rocket members guarding the door. "Oh god, not them again." Misty whispered under her breath. Jessie, James, and Meowth were right in front of the door. However, both Jessie and James had bags under their eyes and had looks as though they had not slept in an entire day. Meowth was napping comfortably on the floor, much to the anger of his colleagues. They barely noticed Ash and Misty come up to them. "Umm, excuse me" said Ash. Jessie instantly sprang up, and spoke with a harsh voice.  
"What do you want brat!"  
"Well, you see we need to get inside the room please."  
"Ha ha ha, how do I know you're not that twerp that everyone thinks is coming?"  
"Oh please" said Misty. "Do you really think he's smart enough to come up with a plan that gets him inside? No, I bet he will just come bursting in and make an ass of himself."  
"Oh yeah!" Now it was Ash's turn. "What makes you think he couldn't? I bet he can come in a take away the hostage without anyone noticing. What I don't get is why he would come back for the hostage, because she's a loud abusive know-it-all!"  
"Ha! What makes you think the hostage would be glad to see him, since he's such a stubborn, hot-headed kid?"  
"Hey, quiet down lovebirds, I'm tryin' ta get a catnap!" Then, an idea came to Ash's head.  
"Of course, you all need your beauty sleep. After all, you're such loyal, hardworking Rockets, you need to sleep! Listen, how's about you go to sleep and we'll stay out here and guard the room?"  
"Well, I don't know…"  
"OK! Let's go James!" Within a second, Jessie grabbed James and Meowth by their necks and dragged them away into a room. Misty and Ash sighed, but then went to the door and found out it was locked.  
"Locked, huh? Well, even Jessie and James aren't that dumb?"  
"Ash look, a keypad! I think we have to type in a password."  
"Great, Jessie and James must have set it as well. Now let's see, apparently it's a seven lettered word."  
"What kind of password could they have thought up?"  
Ash and Misty thought for a while, and when the answer came to their minds, they were slightly annoyed with it.  
"Don't tell me…" Ash typed in P-I-K-A-C-H-U and the door instantly unlocked itself.  
"…Those three need lives."  
As they made their way inside, they found that the room was actually quite empty, which surprised Ash considering that Team Rocket stole dozens of Pokémon each day. But it proved more convenient to them, since it was easier to find Misty's Pokémon. She let out her Pokémon, and was glad to see Azurill, Staryu, Starmie, and even Psyduck safe and sound. "Phew, they're all here. Now let's go Ash!" "Right!" However, when they had run out of the room, Ash accidently bumped into James. "Ouch, hey watch where you're go-" James stopped and to his surprise, Ash's hat fell off and revealed himself! "Crap!" thought Ash. He tried to get up, but James had grabbed him from the ankle. "Twerp! You're going to pay for all the damage you caused me! No one makes a fool of-" But before James could finish, Misty bonked him on the head with her mallet and released Ash. "…James." Jessie stepped out of her room to look for James, and happened to see Ash and Misty getting away. "The twerps!" She went and set off the alarm, and by now every Team Rocket member knew about Ash and Misty. Just before they got to the room, some grunts had appeared. "Quick Misty, go inside the room!" She nodded, and once she was inside, Ash let out Pikachu, who released a powerful Thunderbolt on the grunts. Now that they were instantly knocked out, Ash got inside the room and locked it. Inside the room, Monferno was there and had completed its job. "Good job Monferno, return." Ash used the chair to barricade the door a little. The grunts were all trying to break the door down, but it took a battering ram to finally knock it down. To their surprise, Ash, Misty, and Pikachu were gone! They searched all over the room, but no one was in here. They were about to leave when one grunt noticed that in the window was a hole...

…And through that hole right now, Ash, Misty, and Pikachu were digging frantically and climbing in order to get out. Luckily, their 'tunnel' was dug by Monferno while they had gone to rescue Misty's Pokémon, so they had a good head start. After a while, they had gotten out of the tunnel, and to their relief, they were outside once more. Ash helped Misty get out and as they were getting out, a large group of grunts quickly blocked their way. Misty and Ash tried to turn the other way, but more grunts came out of the building, led by Jessie and James. They were surrounded. "All right then twerp, why don't we just do this the easy way. You come with us, and we won't hurt your friends" said James. "No way! Why should I trust you, you're all just a bunch of cruel, crazy, cowards!" At this point, James was so angry that he had finally reached his breaking point. He had always worked hard for Team Rocket, the only place where he could find freedom, but could never repay it because of Ash. He was always ruining their plans, and James was sick of it. Not thinking twice, he lunged at Ash and delivered a powerful punch to his abdomen. Ash, surprised with the sudden attack, fell down on his knees and lost consciousness. "Ash! Ash, are you all right? Ash!"  
"Pikapi!"  
"I…hit the twerp…but…" James was at a lost for words. Although Ash had gotten on his nerves before, he would never hurt him directly. The other grunts came over and tried to pick up Misty and Ash. But when more and more grunts came, Ash began to glow blue. Pikachu, who had seen this happen before, tried to tell Misty to get away, but she was confused about what was happening. Besides, they were surrounded by grunts, which were not moving because of what was happening. Then, the blue light grew enormously, and all the grunts were thrown off their feet. Pikachu and Misty however, were the only ones who were completely unharmed. Not wanting to worry about it now, Misty tried to get Ash up on his feet, but he was still unconscious. Then, a clapping noise was heard. Pikachu and Misty turned around and saw that it was Giovanni and his Persian. Giovanni was faintly clapping, and had a smug look on his face. Misty, remembering he was the one behind her kidnapping, spoke sharply to him. "You better let us go now! Pikachu can zap you and your kitty into oblivion and then some!"  
"Oh but Miss Williams if I were to do that, what will you do with your friend? Did you not see the power he has just unleashed? If you come with me, I can help control his powers."  
Misty felt uncomfortable, remembering that Ash had told her that he had the ability to use Aura. She didn't know much what Aura was, but was it really this powerful? And yet, why should she trust this man? If what Ash said about Aura was true, then it was also true that Giovanni was the man who murdered Ash's father. What should Misty do?

Meanwhile, in some bushes near Team Rocket's base, Brock, Dawn, Selia, and Jerry were watching the whole scene carefully. They had arrived in time to see Ash glow and blast everyone away, and were nervous right now. Would Misty give herself up and believe Giovanni, or would she try to fight, which might get her and Ash injured. It wouldn't be long before the grunts would wake up and capture them. "Jerry, can't we go help her?" whispered Dawn.  
"No, we'll just get caught. Besides, we can't fight all those grunts. It would be best if Misty and Ash get captured and we go and save them. They don't know we're here."  
"But Jerry…"  
"No buts!" Jerry stopped himself, realizing that was a bit too loud. "Do you think they heard me?"  
"Oh, I heard you." Everyone gasped as they saw Giovanni over them. They turned and saw Ash, Misty, and Pikachu were being taken away inside.  
"My my, it's so nice to see new friends. Why don't you come inside, I insist."


	8. Chapter 7: The Clone

Chapter VII: The Clone

He didn't know how long he'd been knocked out. All he knew was that he was waking up slowly, as though he was out of a trance. The more he woke up, the louder he could hear the voices calling him. "Ash...Ash..."  
He finally opened his eyes and saw that he was somewhere unknown. Instead of being outside, he was in a dark room. There was nothing in the room, from what he could see. Then, he felt a pair of arms that hugged him quickly yet with a firm grip. "Ash, I'm so glad you're awake!"  
He recognized it as Misty's voice, and realized it was her who was hugging him tight. "  
"Uh Misty, could you not suffocate me?"  
"Oh, sorry." Misty let go, blushing slightly. Then, he felt something run up to him. "Pikapi!"  
"Pikachu!" Ash was glad that Pikachu was here, but then he felt people breathing down on his neck. Ash looked around and was surprised  
to see Dawn, Brock, Selia, and Jerry next to him. "Huh, what are you guys doing here?" he asked nervously, knowing he was in trouble for  
leaving them.  
"Oh not much, just trapped in this room because of you!" replied Dawn, who was visibly angry. In fact, everyone else was angry at him also,  
as if they were never worried about him. "But don't worry, we all got acquainted a little. So know we all agree that you're gonna receive hel-"  
"Ok ok, so I snuck out and tried to save Misty."

"Without telling us."

"Yeah, and so what if I got myself captured."  
"And ourselves."  
"Yeah you too, but Team Rocket didn't even take away our Pokémon this time! We can easily escape!"  
"Boy, don't you realize that this is not the same Team Rocket you normally run into?" Jerry spoke this time, only in a stricter and  
serious tone. "Giovanni is not someone to underestimate. He set this all up as a trap for you, because you are much too valuable. And even  
with you here, what makes you think he won't hurt the rest of us? Are you sure you can handle that on your conscious?"  
The room fell into a dead silence. No one could say anything. "I'm sorry...I never wanted any of you hurt, or caught up in this."  
"Aww, how touching."  
Ash felt his spine tingle at the sound of the voice. He knew all too well where he heard it before. He couldn't see him, but it sounded as  
though he was outside. The lights in the room turned on immediately, nearly blinding them. Sure enough, Giovanni was standing in front of  
the door, with his Persian and two other grunts with him. Everyone else was also shocked to see him as well. Misty, however, was boiling  
in anger.  
"You! What do you want from us this time?"  
"Hmm, now that's hardly the tone to use for Team Rocket's Boss. You should show more respect towards me, especially after all I've done for you."  
Ash stood up and faced his direction. "Respect huh? Well I'll give you the respect you deserve!" He spat in front of Giovanni, but was  
slapped right across the face.  
"Ash!"  
Jerry was about to lunge himself onto Giovanni if it wasn't for one of the grunts that handcuffed him immediately. "Let me go, let me go!"  
"What are you going to do to him? "

"Don't worry; we'll also take the boy as well."  
The other grunt grabbed Ash and handcuffed him as well.  
"Pikapi!" But before Pikachu could go after him, Persian jumped out and pinned him to the floor. "Pikachu! Are you all right?"  
"Well kid, we have two ways of handling this. You can come with us quietly, or you can watch your Pikachu become a quick snack for my Persian. You pick." Ash anger quickly rose, but reluctantly agreed to  
go with Giovanni. "Giovanni, I hope you realize how sick and twisted you are" said Selia.  
"Trust me; you don't know the half of it. Now, take those two out of here" he pointed to Ash and Jerry. "Oh, and if you four attempt to escape... well let's just say it won't be that good for your friends."  
With a final smirk, he left the room, locking it tight. Once his footsteps faded, Selia suddenly clasped her hands together and closed  
her eyes. As she did this, a pink-purplish glow appeared in front of her. "Let's see if I can tune with Ash's mind."  
Unaware to her, Brock and the others were freaked out. "...Umm Selia, what the heck are you doing?"  
"Brock, Dawn, Misty, it's time I revealed something to you..."

Ash and Jerry were silent the entire time. Not only would it be bad for them if they talked, they were both thinking pretty much the same  
thing. It was obvious why Giovanni wanted Ash, but why would he want Jerry as well?

"Selia, can you see where they are now?"  
"Not yet Brock. Hold on, I think I see something..."

Ash and Jerry stepped into a dark room full of scientists. There were many strange machines in the room that Ash had never seen, and they were all blinking and flashing. But the strangest and probably the one that captured Ash's attention the most was probably the one in the center of the room. It was in the shape of a black cylindrical tube, but it had all sorts of wires connected to it, some black and tiny, while others were larger and clearer, and had strange fluids passing through it. It had no flashing lights, but it did have a screen that reminded Ash of one of those heart monitors they had in hospitals. It was also connected to some sort of sphere that looked like it was surrounded in a faint black aura. Or was it just Ash's imagination? "Impressive, isn't it?" Ash almost forgot where he was, and who he was with. "What is that?" he asked quietly, not expecting to be answered. "Patience, but for now instead of asking what that is, why don't you start by telling me who you are?"  
Ash would have felt threatened, if it weren't for Jerry's sudden outburst of laughing.

"Is he…laughing?" asked Misty, wondering if Jerry really was insane like Ash had told her. "Oh Jerry…"

"May I ask what is so funny?"  
Jerry stopped laughing, but a smile and a few tears in his eyes. "You're wasting your time Giovanni; he's not the one you're looking for."

"Wait, what?" said Misty. "What does he mean that Ash isn't the one he's looking for?" asked Dawn, who was just as confused as Misty was.

"Oh no, don't tell me…"Selia murmured.

"Oh, so sure about that are you?"Giovanni smirked.  
"Believe me, this boy has some strong aura inside him, but he's not the one you're looking for."  
"Wait, what is he talking about?" thought Ash.  
"So, you think you know who I'm looking for?"  
"Think I know, I know for a fact that you're looking for my son, aren't you?"

"WHAAAAAAAAAAT! JERRY HAS A SON?"  
"Oh dammit. This won't end well" thought Selia.

Ash also had a look of shock on his face, but for some reason, it was also mixed with sadness and hurt. Giovanni, however, still had a prideful smirk on his face. "Hmm, so you're sure that your _son_ is the one that I'm looking for?"  
"Yes, and you'll never find him, because he goes by a nickname that only his family calls him by."  
"And what is that nickname?"  
"Well, you can't find him now, not while I'm here, but if you must know, his nickname is Ash."

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!"

"... HAHAHAHAHA!"Giovanni began to laugh as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world. It almost made him less threatening, but almost.  
"Well, I'm afraid I have bad news for you. Do you know that boy's name over there?" He pointed to Ash.  
"Yes, his friends tell me his name is Ashton."  
"But isn't it strange that they've only called him Ash?"  
"Well, it must be his…nickname."  
"Yes, that boy over there is really known as Ash Ketchum, and he is your son Tajiri."

"No way! How could Jerry be Ash's dad? Didn't he die a long time ago?"  
"Selia, what's going on?"  
"This will definitely not end well."

"So…you really did forget about me…" Ash looked away from his father, not wanting to even glance at him.  
"Ash, it's not true! I would never forget about you, I just…"Tajiri was at a loss for words. He had made a huge mistake, how could he have not recognized his own son?  
"I must admit Tajiri, not recognizing your own son even after all these years? You really have lost your touch."  
"Ha, coming from the same man who would kill his own brother!"

"Wait a minute, so now Giovanni is Jer-I mean Tajiri's brother?"  
"But that means, he's Ash's uncle!"

"Sorry to disappoint you Tajiri, but I'm not the same spineless brother you had all those years ago." Giovanni said with a smirk.  
"Yeah, now you're a despicable, miserable excuse for a human being. Whatever your plan is, it won't work as long as I'm around!"  
"Hmph, insults get you nowhere. Grunts, take him back to the room, I need to talk to his _son _in privacy."  
"I'm not leaving here without Ash Jonathon!"  
"To be honest, you are in no position to say that. Now go already!"  
Two grunts came in and grabbed Tajiri, who was struggling and yelling to his son. "Let go of me! Ash, don't do anything he says!" Ash, however, still had his head down, not even paying attention to what his father said.

The grunts took Tajiri to the room where Ash's friends were, pushing him roughly inside.  
"Damn…could they have been a little nicer?"  
"Actually, compared to us those guys are nothing."  
Tajiri turned around and saw Misty, Dawn, Pikachu, and Brock with an angry expression. "Oh damn, I forgot about Ash's friends."Tajiri thought nervously. "So guys, I suppose you know what's going on huh?"  
"YOU LIED TO US!"  
"Yeah, I tend to do that sometimes…" Tajiri sweat-dropped. He would rather be thrown off another cliff than face the wrath of two angry girls (and Brock). Then he remembered something.  
"Selia, can you still see with Ash's mind?"  
"Yeah but-"  
"Keep on seeing and tell me what's happening, I need to check for cameras and bugs."  
"Wait, why?"  
"We're going to be escaping soon…"

Meanwhile, Ash and Giovanni were still alone in the room. Ash was still quiet and still looking at the floor. "So you're probably wondering why I wanted to have you kidnapped."

"Have you ever heard of aura?"  
"Yes, and I know you want my aura don't you?"  
Giovanni chuckled, "Well, you're not that dim are you? You see Ash; I need your help in a little harmless experiment of mine that would be extremely helpful. If you do help me, I'll let you, your friends, and even your good-for-nothing father go and you can forget this ever happened." Giovanni still had a proud smile on his face.  
"Well, why do you want me?" Ash asked.  
"It's like you said before; I need a bit of your aura."  
"Why, it's not that special."  
"I guess I overestimated you a bit. Ash, did you know you have a very special and unique aura, and not to mention powerful. It's so powerful; if it goes untrained it could cause a great deal of damage to those around you. This could be like training for you.  
"And what if I refuse?"Ash was not sure he should trust him.  
"Well, let's just say you better not refuse.""  
Ash hesitated, but decided to agree with Giovanni. "Alright, I'll do it. But you have to swear you won't hurt anyone."  
"Hmph, fine I swear."

"Dammit Ash, I told you not to agree with him!" Tajiri cursed.  
"Umm, Mr. Ketchum, what will Giovanni do to Ash?" asked Dawn.  
"Fortunately Ash is much too valuable for Giovanni to do any major harm to Ash. But still, I'm not so sure…"

"All right Giovanni I'll help you, but what do I have to do?"  
"Ah yes, you see Ash all you have to do is place your hands on this sphere."Giovanni pointed to the sphere in the room, the one that Ash was curious about.

"Wait, that's it? THAT's what Giovanni wants Ash to do?"

"Hmm, something's still not right here…"

"So that's it huh? No aura or anything like that?" Ash made his way to the sphere and put his hands on it. It felt dead cold and rough, as if it was made out of crystal or some type of rock. Even though Ash was told to do something so simple, he couldn't help but feel worried and curious at the same time. Giovanni took notice of this. "What's wrong, feel uncomfortable?"

"…you're hiding something, aren't you?"

"My, you really aren't that dumb are you? All right then, I'll let you in on a little secret, I personally believe that you aren't that capable of mastering your aura, so I'm about to take the responsibility of being an Aura Guardian of your hands." Before Ash could react, his feet were grabbed by two metal clasps. He tried to move, but he couldn't. "W-what's going on?"Giovanni laughed, "Allow me to present to you my latest experiment and creation." He went over to the tube and pressed a large button in its side. Suddenly, the black metal on the tube started to glow, and seemed to disappear and turn the tube into glass. The screen that looked like a heart monitor turned on, and looked like an actual heart monitor. Ash's eyes (as well as everyone else) widen in shock at the thing inside the tube. "Now, nephew, I want you to meet our experiment 522, or better known as your only clone." It was true, inside the tube was a replica of Ash in every single way. It had his black hair, his face, everything exactly like Ash except for the fact that wires were connected to his head, hands, torso, and feet. The clone looked dead, as if there was no life coming from him.

"Y-you cloned me!"

"I had to; this is the only way that I'm able to store your aura. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to keep the clones alive, I had to sacrifice all of them just make sure he lives" he pointed to the clone, "But with you here, I'll be able to bring him into this world."

"Well too bad Giovanni, I'm not doing a thing you ask me to."Ash said, keeping his hands behind his back.

"HA, you'll regret saying that twerp." Giovanni took out a remote with a dial and a button. "Let's see how you'll take on Level 1." He turned the dial to the left, and pressed the button. Suddenly, a wave of shock came from the clasps and through Ash's body. Unlike Pikachu's thunder shocks, this kind of electricity was more powerful, shocking his very bones. "AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Then, the pain and electricity stopped. Ash was panting heavily, realizing that this was the 'lightest 'of all the levels.

"Dammit, when I get out of here, I'll make my bastard of a 'brother' pay!"  
"Tajiri now's not the time for that! Giovanni will pay for what he did, but I feel he's not over yet."

"Now Ash, will you do what I ask you to?"Ash nodded slowly, feeling numb from the electric shock.  
"Good boy, now place your hands on the sphere again." Ash raised his hands, and once he put them on the sphere, another shock even more powerful from the last one went through him again.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He kept his eyes closed, hoping to slip away into unconsciousness, but for some reason he couldn't. He opened his eyes a little, and he saw that some dark blue light was escaping from his hands. He opened them more, and saw that his whole body was radiating in the light. "What's going on…"He thought to himself. At the same time, the heart monitor was starting to beep, increasing every time more of the dark blue light entered the tube. "Now Ash, thanks to your aura, I'll be able to complete my mission. I just need a few more…"He twisted the dial, and the electricity got even more powerful.

Ash's friends could not believe what was happening. Ash was being tortured out there, while they were inside doing nothing. Pikachu had enough, and started to use Volt Tackle on the door.  
"Pikachu stop!"Tajiri tried to stop the Pokémon, but it would not listen. Misty, understanding Pikachu's motivation, defended it. "Pikachu is trying to do something, while we're standing around here doing nothing!" Then, Pikachu's final Volt Tackle finally broke through the door, creating a huge gaping hole in the middle of it. "Pi-Pikachu broke the door!"Said Dawn, completely surprised at how much power the little Pokémon had.  
"Good, you kids stay here, I'll go with Pikachu and get Ash."  
"Right!" Selia kept looking through Ash's mind, when she sensed something faint. "What was that?"she thought.

The shock stopped, but Ash could not take it anymore. If Giovanni shocked him at a higher level, he would surely die. "I can't take it anymore…" he thought. The clone was getting stronger, but that still wasn't enough for Giovanni. "I just need a little more…"Ash's heart sank. He really was going to die, and to think this was the same uncle who helped him and his mom when his dad was gone. "Dad…please help me…"he thought. Then from the corner of his eye, he thought he saw a boy about his age. It was too dark to tell how he looked like but he was a little taller than Ash, and looked very serious. For some reason, Ash felt he wasn't part of Team Rocket, and was almost familiar to him. Then the boy waved his hand and suddenly all the electrical appliances and machines in the room started to short circuit. "What's going on!" Then the tube started to beep loud and harshly, as though it were a warning bell. "Oh no, get the clone out of there, quick!" Then, the tube itself was starting to short circuit, until one shock finally went through the clone. It opened its eyes widely, and it was obvious it was in pain. "No!" Then the clone's hair turned white and his eyes turned blood red, and finally it closed his eyes. Then the clasps released Ash, and he fell back as the sphere exploded in front of him. While Giovanni and the other scientists were busy with the clone, no one noticed Tajiri and Pikachu enter the room. Pikachu ran over to Ash's side, and was relieved he was awake. "Pikachu…"However, Ash was still weak from the shocks. Tajiri went over and picked up Ash quietly, trying not to be seen by anyone of them. Ash looked for the boy, but couldn't find him anywhere. "Was I…hallucinating?" Tajiri and Pikachu left the room quietly, and were now hurrying over to the room where Ash's friends were held captive. Everyone was glad to see Ash, considering the fact that they were all angry at him just a few hours ago. "Ash! Is he going to be okay?" asked Dawn.  
"Don't worry, he'll be okay soon enough" replied Tajiri. He laid Ash down on the floor, and turned to Misty, Brock, and Dawn. "All right kids, I need you to take out your strongest Pokémon and have them attack that wall." In less than a second, Brock took out his Croagunk, Happiny, and Sudowoodo, Misty took out her Starmie and Staryu, while Dawn only took out Piplup (Mamoswine would not have fit). Each Pokemon tried to Tackle or punch the wall, but it wasn´t until Happiny landed a single Pound that the wall completely collapsed into a hole in front of them (much to the surprise of Selia and Jerry). However, to everyone's surprise, they were staring directly at the sky, with no trees around them! "No way, weren't we in the first floor?" asked Dawn. Everyone returned their Pokemon, and saw that she was wrong. The "log cabin" looked as if it had suddenly grew 5 or 6 stories higher, making it look like some sort of office building.

"Hmm, I see, he builds his headquarters underground so no one can find it, but it rose so that we can´t escape. Huh, I guess Jonathon´s not that dumb after all..."  
"That´s nice and all, but how do we get out of here?" asked Brock.  
"Staraptor..." Everyone turned to see Ash standing up and holding out a Pokeball. He seemed to be getting better, but he was still tired. "Of course, Ash´s Staraptor should be able to take all of us down!"said Brock. Ash nodded, and released Staraptor.  
"Staraptor!" Misty was impressed with Staraptor, due to the fact that she had never seen one before. However, Tajiri was still worried. "Hmm, Staraptor looks big enough to carry only three of us at the same time. Okay, new plan!"  
"What do you mean new plan?" asked Selia.  
"Brock, Dawn, and Misty will go down first and head to the middle of the forest. Me, Selia and Ash will follow you guys later."

"But, are you sure you want to stay behind with Ash?" Misty was worried that something might happen to them while they were here.  
"Don´t worry Mist, I´ll be OK." Ash smiled weakly. Misty blushed, but she didn't want him to see her that way. "I´m not worried about you, I´m worried if Selia and your dad can handle you that´s all."  
"Sure..."thought everyone except Ash. Anyways, Dawn, Brock and Misty got on Staraptor. It was quite comfortable being on Staraptor, if it were not for the fact that everyone riding felt squished together. "Ow Brock, that was my leg!"  
"Sorry Dawn, Misty don´t grab on to my hair!"  
"Sorry, I felt like I was about to fall!"  
"Boy, I´m glad I´m not going with them" thought Ash. "Alright Staraptor, fly as fast as you can please!"  
"Wait, how fast is that?" asked Misty.  
"Not fast enough!" Staraptor spread its wings and took off, at a speed so fast that Misty´s screams were only heard for a few seconds. "Well, that´s that" said Tajiri.

Suddenly, a loud piercing alarm started. Team Rocket members were coming in from the halls and to their room. "Aww damn, now we´re screwed" said Tajiri.  
"Wait, don´t worry Tajiri, don´t forget Plan C!"  
"Plan C, what are you talking about Selia?" asked Ash.  
"Oh yeah, that plan! Ash quick, grab on to my hand!" Ash did as he was told, and grabbed Tajiri by his hand, while Tajiri grabbed Selia´s hand. Pikachu climbed on Ash´s shoulders. "All right Ash, this may be weird at first, but you´ll get used to it later."  
"Wait, what?" But before anyone could answer him, Selia jumped out the hole, along with Tajiri, Ash, and Pikachu. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" But instead of falling to his death as he thought, Ash found himself floating, or more like levitating. He turned to look at Selia, but in her place a Cresselia was there, and his dad was on her! "W-what the, w-why is-"  
"Don´t worry Ash, it´s me" the Cresselia spoke using Telepathy. Ash´s eyes widened in shock, but the voice was all too familiar. "S-Selia?"  
"I´ll explain everything later, but for now, get on my back."  
"Ash, give me your hand" Tajiri reached out his hand. Pikachu climbed his arm and went on Cresselia. Ash extended his hand, but then-

**BOOM! **

Ash and Cresselia were suddenly attacked by dozens of rocks. "This is Power Gem! But who-" However, to her shock Ash was not there with them. "Oh no, Ash were are you?" Cresselia must have lost focus on Ash, but quickly saw where he was, to her horror. "Tajiri, down there!" Tajiri looked down, and saw what was wrong. Ash was being held by his head and hair by Giovanni. He was unconscious, but his face was clearly in pain. Giovanni was trying hard to bring him inside the room, and trying not to let Ash go. "Jonathon, let him go!" Tajiri was incredibly angry.  
"Sorry Tajiri, but I don´t think that´s a very good idea. Persian, get rid of these pests." Persian obeyed, and was starting to charge up its Hyper Beam. "Per..." However, before it could even launch its attack, Pikachu quickly used Thunderbolt on it. It stopped Persian, but it also hit Giovanni, who spread the attack on Ash. "Aaaaah!" Although it was not as powerful as the shocks he received before, it reminded him of them and fainted again. Pikachu stopped its Thunderbolt, but Tajiri could sense something was wrong. Giovanni also sensed it, and one look at Ash was enough to know why. Ash was starting to radiate blue aura again, only this time it was growing and growing, and anything in its way disappeared as if it disintegrated. Giovanni got his Persian and went right out of the room, he knew what was happening.

"Selia, you have to take me down to Ash!"  
"But Tajiri, you can´t go to him in this state..."  
"I have to at least try!" Selia sighed and gave in. Sometimes, it was hard to tell who was more stubborn, Ash or Tajiri. As she got closer, the aura around Ash was still growing, it had now destroyed the whole room and was proceeding onto the roof and the floor below. Selia was amazed at how powerful Ash´s aura was. Tajiri tried to get closer to Ash, but the aura kept pushing him away. "Ash, wake up! You have to stop this instant!" He tried yelling at him, but it wouldn´t work either. "Pikapiii!" Not even Pikachu could wake up his friend. "Wait a minute...Pikachu!" Tajiri just had an idea.  
"Pikachu, I need you to use Thunderbolt on Ash again."  
"Pikachu Pika pika!" (What kind of idea is that!)  
"Well I never said it was a good one."  
"Chu, Pika-Pikachu pi ka!" (Well I´m not doing it!)  
"Pikachu´s right Tajiri, Ash might get hurt..."  
"Maybe, but it will give us the chance to get him before Jonathon comes back."  
Selia hesitated, but she knew that this was the only plan they had. "Alright then, Pikachu if you won´t do it then I´ll have to." Selia was forming a small ball of electricity in her hands, and then launched it straight at Ash. It broke his aura force field, making it easier for Tajiri to grab him. Once he grabbed Ash, Selia started to fly away towards to the forests, but not before a Hyper Beam nearly hit them. Tajiri could see Giovanni standing on the roof with his Persian. "Dammit Jonathon, just leave us alone!" he shouted. Persian sent out another Hyper Beam, this one being much bigger than the last one. Selia nearly dodged it, and almost caused Tajiri and Pikachu to fall off. However, Tajiri lost his grip on Ash´s hand, and could do nothing as he saw his son fall down towards the trees...

* * *

Author`s note!

Mwahaha, aren`t I ASHbusive? (laughs) Anyways, it won`t be long untill I post the next chapter. Bye-bye, and thanks for reading & reviewing!


	9. Chapter 8: The Riolu

Chapter 8: The Riolu "Do you see them yet guys?" Misty was starting to worry. Staraptor had gone back for Ash and the others, but they still haven't come. Dawn was worried as well, even Brock could tell that something was wrong. It was already morning, so Brock decided to start making something quick for breakfast, much to the annoyance of Misty. "How can you be cooking food when your best friend could be in TROUBLE!" "Trust me, Ash is going to thank me later." "I still can't believe that Team Rocket didn't take our stuff" said Dawn while looking at her bag. She tried to change the subject, because she knew what Misty was capable of when angered (even if she only knew her for less than an hour). "I can't believe that Ash and everyone else hasn't come back yet" said Misty. "I can't believe there's no more butter" said Brock, who was trying to make pancakes. After a pounding from Misty's mallet, they heard a familiar cry. "Star!" They all turned around to see Staraptor, but were shocked that Tajiri and Pikachu were riding Cresselia. When they got down, Cresselia started to glow purple-pinkish, and turned back into Selia the human. "So she was telling the truth..." thought Brock sadly. However, then he noticed that Ash wasn't with them. "Hey, where's Ash?" he asked. Tajiri's face became gloomy, "Well, you see..." Somewhere else in the forest, a group of Pokémon were crowding over a limp, unconcious figure. The figure was bleeding badly, but it was still breathing, albeit heavily. Some of the Pokemon (such as Chansey) were trying to stop his bleeding, but they had no luck yet. Then, they all felt a powerful presence around them. They all fled, leaving the figure all alone and unknown to the powerful aura surrounding him. Then, a mysterious voice came from nowhere. "You whose power exceeds all others, know this. The balance of aura must be protected, at whatever cost." Suddenly, the figure was covered in a blue aura and started to shrink... "I can't believe you lost Ash!" "Well excuse me, it wasn't like I planned it!" The red head and the tramp were fighting back forth. "Man, I can't believe she might be my futre daughter-in-law! Ash sure needs to pick his girlfriends better" thought Tajiri while pouting. While they were fighting, Selia tried to use her psychic powers to try to locate Ash in the forest. Brock had put away the breakfast supplies, since he wouldn't be using them now. Dawn let out her Pokémon to try and see if they could find Ash, but so far nothing. Finally, Selia stopped and turned to the others. "I'm sorry guys, I couldn't find him anywhere." Everyone sighed, now even more worried than before. Tajiri spoke up first, "Well guys, we'll have to split up and search. Brock, Dawn, you guys go together to the left. Me and Selia will go together to the right. If anyone finds something, you come straight back here. Above all, keep it low. There may be some Team Rocket grunts in the area." "Wait a minute, what about me?" Tajiri turned, and realized that he left out Misty. "Uhh, maybe you should stay here with Pikachu and Staraptor." "What! I can't just stay here while Ash is out there injured or something!" "Misty, right now we don't know where Ash is or what happened to him. But if we all run after him, we might get caught and be in even more trouble, and then who's going to save Ash? You have to stay here in case Ash comes. I know it sounds impossible right now, but sometimes the most impossible things are often the ones that most often come true. So can you stay here and wait, no scratch that, hope for him to come?" Misty was silent, but she decided that this would be the best for now. "Yes, I'll wait for him here." Tajiri smiled, "Good, now everyone leave your stuff here and start searching. Try to get some of your Pokémon to help as well", he then bended down to Pikachu, "Don't worry Pikachu, we'll find him." "Pi ka..." (I hope so...) Meanwhile, in Team Rocket's half demolished headquaters, the group of scientists from before were busy taking care of the clone. He had been stable, but there was always the possibility of losing him, and Giovanni would certainly not respond kindly to that. But for now, Giovanni was still thinking over the events that had happened earlier in the day. He was still amazed at how much power Ash had. "Perhaps too much power..." he thought. "Well then nephew, I hope you're all right for now. After all, you are still vital to my plan..." Even though she was worried to the bone about Ash, she was starting to get a liitle bored. "Oh Ash, hurry up and be found already" she thought. "Hey Pikachu, Staraptor, let's go search and see if Ash is around here." The other Pokémon nodded and went with Misty as they headed towards the forest. "Hey Ash, are you there?" "Pikapiiii!" "Starrr!" There was no answer. "I just hope Ash isn't..." Misty stopped herself. "I shouldn't think that way. Ash will be alright!" Then, she heard a small faint sound somewhere. "Wah..." It sounded like it was hurt, and was very weak. "Hey Pikachu, Staraptor, did you guys hear that?" Without hesitation, Pikachu and Staraptor immediatly went over to the noise. "Hey, wait up guys!" The both of them went through the bushes and trees. Misty thought she had lost them, but a few minutes later she quickly found them under some trees. "Guys, why'd you do tha-" She stopped, and saw something else lying down next to the Pokémon. It was small, but at least bigger than Pikachu. It looked like a Pokémon, but it was one that Misty had never seen before. It had two black legs, but it was blue from the torso up. She couldn't see the head very well, but she could see some sort of black round things connected to its head. "Huh, I wonder what kind of Pokémon are you?" The figure made no movement. "I hope it's not dead..." She reached out to the Pokémon, and could feel its head. It was furry and warm, but she also felt a liquid. She took back her hand, and was shocked to see it red. "Blood!" She stood up quickly. "You guys stay here and try to taka care of it. I'll be right back with a first aid kit!" As Misty was leaving, Pikachu and Staraptor turned their attention to the Pokémon. "Star, star staraptor?" (Hey, why's a Riolu here?) "Pika..." (Beats me...) "Staraptor star Raptor!" (Well, don't trouble yourself over it!) "Pi ka pika, Chu Pikapi..." ( I'm sorry, but I'm still worried about Ash..) "Oi, Selia! I found something!" Selia hurried over to where Tajiri was. "What, what happened?" Tajiri went to her, and in his arms were some clothes, a Pokébelt, and a backpack. "Wait, those belong to Ash..." She stopped, and saw that the clothes were stained with blood on the back. Tajiri's face was unreadable. "Tajiri..." "No, we can't give up now! Ash is out there somewhere, and he needs my help!" "Alright, but we better call back Brock and Dawn." "Well, would you like to see your best friend naked?" "Hmm, good point." "Just a few more, and there!" Misty had just finished wrapping the bandages around the Riolu's head. She was proud of herself, mostly because she hadn't wrapped it too tight or too low. The bandages covered almost all of Riolu's head, save for his black things (Misty still didn't know what they were called), eyes, nose, and mouth. "I hope you recover soon, little cutie" Misty thought. She gave him a small kiss on the top of its head, and for a second she thought that the small Pokémon blushed a little. "Hey, Misty are you there?" Suddenly, Brock and Dawn came through the trees to where Misty was. "What are you guys doing here?" "Well, me and Dawn are done searching for Ash on our side, so we went back here to find you. Oh, and hi by the way." "Hey Misty, is that a Riolu?" "Huh, oh yeah! I found the little guy out here all alone with a head injury. Brock, could you treat it later?" "Hmm, if it's a head injury I think we should wait for Selia and Tajiri. Let's go see if they came back." "Right!" As Selia and Tajiri were heading back, they suddenly saw Misty and the others running through the forest. "Huh, Misty, Brock, Dawn!" Selia called out and waved to them. They all turned and were relieved that it was Selia and Tajiri. "Phew, that saved us a load of walking!" Dawn exclaimed. The two groups went to each other but it was Tajiri who first caught sight of the Riolu. Likewise, it was Misty who first caught sight of the bloody clothes. "Misty, what is that?" "Tajiri, what is that?" Tajiri spoke first. "Well you see, they're Ash's clothes..." The group felt an immense pang in their hearts. What had happened to their friend? However, Dawn made a smart-ass comment by saying, "Wait, you mean that Ash is...naked?" For some strange reason, a feeling of lust came to Misty, but then it quickly left. "Huh, that was wierd..." she thought. Trying to take his mind off of Ash, Tajiri questioned the Riolu. "Oh, I found the little guy all alone in the forest with a head injury. He's still breathing though, but it looks like he still won't wake up anytime soon..." "Hmm, let's see what I can do..." Selia went over to the Riolu and placed her hands on the side of his head. Then both her hands started to glow purplish-pinkish. "What I still don't get is how a Riolu got here in the first place. They're normally only native to Sinnoh, and being rare baby Pokémon they have to be with either a parent or a trainer" said Brock. However, the only one paying attention to him was Misty, because both Dawn and Tajiri were watching over the Riolu. Even Pikachu and Staraptor were busy paying attention to Riolu. "Oh phooey..." thought Brock. Then, the Riolu started to moan. "Hey it's waking up now!" said Dawn. Tajiri immediatly took Riolu and put him down on the floor. "Hey, wake up!" He started to shake the Riolu a bit harshly. "Tajiri! That's no way to treat a baby!" Misty exclaimed. She took Riolu and started to craddle it near her chest. "Oi oi, does she ever not yell at me?" thought Tajiri. With all the commotion, the Riolu started to wake up slowly. It opened its eyes, and the first thing it saw was Misty smiling at it. "Hello there sleepy head! My, you have such beautiful eyes. They're so big and brown!" She brought him closer to her chest. "Brown, that's wierd, a Riolu normally has red eyes..." thought Brock. "I wish you could talk, but you're just baby after all" said Misty happily. It seems that she was in full motherly mode now. "...All right who are you and what have you done to Misty?" The entire group jumped in shock. That sounded like Ash's voice, but he was nowhere near them. "And could you stop suffocating me with your chest Mist? I mean, it's not exactly big and all, but still..." In horror, Misty (and the others) knew exactly where Ash was. "Ash is that you?" She took Riolu off of her, and to her shock the Riolu gave her a confused look. "Well duh, who did you think I was, a Pokémon or something?" spoke the Riolu. 


	10. Chapter 9: The Cursed Boy

Chapter 9: The Cursed Boy

"Ash is that you?" She took the Riolu off of her, and to her shock the  
Riolu spoke. "Well duh, who did you think I was, a  
Pokémon or something?" spoke the Riolu, in Ash's voice.  
"Well, yes!" she said.  
"Yes? What are you talking about Mist?"  
"Well, umm, look at this." She took out a small mirror and showed  
it to Ash. Instead of seeing his normal face, Ash saw a Riolu with  
brown eyes and a bandaged head staring back at him. "Is that me?" he  
asked. Misty nodded sadly. Ash was silent and looked down.  
"I wonder how he's taking it?" thought Dawn.  
"Poor Ash, first he gets kidnapped, then his friends are threatened,  
then I'm revealed to be his dead father, then his aura gets used to  
bring a clone and gets shocked, then he gets dropped from a height of  
an average skyscraper into a bunch of trees, and now he is a Pokémon.  
There is clearly some sort of powerful being out there that hates him,  
or loves torturing him" thought Tajiri.  
Then, the silence was broken by laughing. However, the laughter came  
from the least likely person to be laughing in this situation.  
"Ash...why are you laughing?" asked Selia while sweatdropping.  
"Haha, do-don't you see Selia? Th-this is all, heehee, a dream!"  
"...a dream?" said Misty unbelievingly.  
"Yeah, I mean come on. I got turned into a Pikachu once, but a Riolu a  
second time? I mean seriously, what is this, a fan fiction?"  
"So in other words, you don't believe in any of this."  
"Yeah pretty much."  
"Alright then, let me try to reason with him" volunteered Tajiri.  
"Sorry dream dad, but since this is a dream I can do whatever I want.  
First of all," he pointed to Tajiri "you smell and you are a drunken tramp!"  
To say that Tajiri was angry was a low understatement. "W-what DID YOU  
CALL ME!"  
"Wait, I'm not done! Brock, face it, you're gonna spend the rest of  
your life alone and sad. Dawn, well what can I say?"  
Brock looked as though he was going to personally make Ash spend the  
rest of HIS life hospitalized, and Dawn, well what can I say?  
"Hey! What about Selia?" Dawn angrily pointed to the quiet girl.  
"Don't bring me into this please!"  
"Selia is very nice to me and never gets angry at me, unlike some  
other girls who are scrawny, whiny, and boy is she-"  
BONK!  
After having enough of Ash's rant about her, Misty took out her mallet  
and put an end to it. "Finish that sentence Ketchum, I dare you!"  
"(Jeez Pikapi, you can be so clueless...)" said Pikachu.  
"(Yeah, star, I guess being a Riolu must have shrunk your brain or  
something.)" said Staraptor.  
"Oww, Misty that hurt! And Pikachu, Staraptor, you can just shut..."  
Ash was clutching his wounded and hurting head. Then, a thought came  
to Ash's head. "Hey, if that hurt, and I could understand Pikachu and  
Staraptor, then that means...this isn't a dream!"  
"Yes..."  
"Then that means...I am a Riolu!"  
"Yes..."  
"Which also means...I'm a dead man right now, aren't I?"  
"Well technically you're a dead Pokémon, but that works too!"

* * *

"Giovanni sir, we were able to bring the clone to a stable condition."  
"Excellent, where is he now?"  
"He is resting right now in a clinic room."  
"Good, wake him up now."  
"Sir?"  
"Well, if we want the plan to work, I need him to trust me completely.  
Who is watching over him right now?"  
"Umm, a Jessie, James, and Meowth."  
"...Oh great."

* * *

After Ash finally realized that he was turned into a real Riolu,  
everyone got quiet again. "So how did I turn into a Riolu?" asked Ash.  
"Hmm, do you remember anything like when you fell down to the forest?"  
Tajiri asked.  
"Well no, I remember blacking out and hearing some strange voice. Do  
you know anything about that?"  
"N-no sorry. But I think I have an idea on what is going on."  
"Tell us! Tell us!"  
"Okay, okay! Well, you see there has lately been something wrong with  
the flow aura."  
"The flow of aura?" asked Misty with a puzzled look.  
"Yes, you see in this world aura is the energy that allows life to  
start, flourish, and end."  
"Whoa, I can't believe that aura could that" said Dawn.  
"Oh there's more. Did you know that aura allows Pokémon to use their  
moves, evolve, and even breed? You could even say that Pokémon are the  
embodiment of aura to a certain degree."  
"But if it's as powerful as you say it is, then how could something  
upset it?" asked Brock.  
"That's the problem, no one knows so far. The legendary Pokémon, like  
Selia, can sense it, but still don't know the cause of it."  
"That's amazing, but isn't there anyway to fix it or something?" asked  
Dawn.  
"Actually, that's where Ash comes in."  
"Wait what?"  
"I know you already heard this before, but your aura is powerful  
enough to fix the problem! In fact, it may turn you back to human once  
it is all over."  
"...listen, I know you expect me to fix everything and all, but let's  
face it I can't help you."  
"Ash, what are you talking about?"  
"Whenever I try to help you guys, I end up getting myself or all of  
you in trouble. I can't use any of my 'powers' because I don't know  
how. I got your hopes up for nothing."  
"Ash that's not true! It may not look like it now, but you are helpful!"  
Ash stood up. "If you don't mind, can I take a walk around here? I'd  
like to think some things through."  
"Uh, sure Ash. Just be careful."  
"I will. Let's go Pikachu, oh and can you return Staraptor for me  
please?" Ash went off, with Pikachu by his side. Tajiri returned  
Staraptor to its Pokéball, while Dawn and Misty helped Brock start  
breakfast again. Selia was left thinking, "Oh Ash, I really wish you  
weren't a part of this." Then, she sensed something and glanced at the  
sky. "Hmm, could he be near?"

* * *

There was an echoing voice that sounded far away. "Hello...anyone  
there?"  
Then another voice different from the first came. "What kind of  
question is that? It's obvious he's asleep!"  
There was a feeling of drowsiness and stirring coming through. Another  
voice, much different from the first two, was also heard. "Both of  
youse shut up now! He's waking up!"  
A bright light came immediately, and suddenly three faces came to view.  
One was a male with lavender hair and green eyes. The other was a  
woman with purplish-reddish hair and blue eyes. The other was actually  
a cat-like creature with a coin on its head. They all had stupid and  
silly grins on their faces. The male spoke, "Why hello there sleepy  
head! How are you feeling?" Then, the female slapped him on the head,  
"You idiot! You don't say those kinds of things!"  
Then, the creature spoke? "Oh forget youse, I'll go tell the boss he's  
awake." He? Could that be, "Me?" The male and female turned. "Huh, did  
you say something?" said the male. "...Are you talking...about me?"  
Wait, those words came from me, right? Me...now I remember! The male  
was named James, and the female was named Jessie. And the Meowth was  
named, well Meowth. But wait, weren't they bad people? What were they  
doing here, or more importantly, why was I here? I'm in a bed with  
white sheets, and I'm only wearing a white robe? Eew, like in those  
hospitals? But why am I in a hospital with Team Rocket? That's right;  
Team Rocket kidnapped me and my friends! They took me to a room with  
my father, and then what? "Oh good, I see you are awake." That  
voice...I remember that voice as well! A man came into the room, with  
what looked like a Persian. It's funny how I remember the Pokémon and  
not the people.  
"So, what has he done since waking up?" The man asked Jessie and  
James. It's like he was experimenting on me or something. "Well boss,  
he's only said a few words, but seems to be responding and  
understanding well" said James. Whoa, since when did he talk smart?  
"Very well, how are you feeling?" The boss asked slowly. "Oh I'm doing  
very fine, just a little stressed out" the man stupidly answered. "Not  
you idiot! The boy!" Man, this guy can sure be mean! "I have a name  
you know..." Huh, did I just say that? Apparently this startled the  
boss man. "Wait, what did you just say?" I decided to speak again.  
"I said I had a name Giovanni." Wait a minute, Giovanni? He's the boss of Team Rocket!  
He kidnapped me, and Misty...I hope she's okay. Giovanni smirked,  
"Well then, do you at least know your name?" What kind of question is that? "Of course, it's Ash Ketchum..."

* * *

"What do you think I should do Pikachu?" Ash and Pikachu were walking  
along a trail in the forest, both quiet for a long time. "(What do you  
mean Pikapi?)"  
"Well, if I go with my dad, I might end up disappointing him and  
failing. But if I don't, I'll just be a coward. What if I do something  
wrong? What if-" Pikachu sent a small shock to Ash, stopping his worry  
rant. "(Pikapi, you shouldn't worry too much. Don't forget, you'll  
have your dad and friends helping you along the way, including me)"  
"Pikachu..." Ash smiled.  
"Boy, you really are lucky..."  
A chill went down Ash's spine. That voice did not sound like Pikachu's.  
"Hey Pikachu, did you hear that?"  
"(Hear what?)"  
"...Never mind, I must be going crazy."  
"You must be, if you are hearing voices in your head..."  
The voice came back again. It sounded so near, yet at the same time so  
far away. Ash was starting to get annoyed by the voice.  
"All right then, whoever you are, you can come out now!"  
"(Pikapi, you're starting to worry me...)"  
"You should listen to your friend, talking at things that aren't  
there..." Then, a figure suddenly appeared from under the trees and  
appeared itself to Ash. It was a boy around Ash's age and was barely  
taller than him. He had short plain hair that reached his eyes and  
ears. But for some reason, it was as if he had a grey color in his  
face and hair. Even his clothes were grey, which were only a pair of  
plain old pants and just a plain old shirt. The boy seemed ordinary,  
and yet Ash felt as if there was something more to him.  
"W-who are you?" Ash asked. Pikachu looked at his friend as though he  
went crazy.  
"...I don't know. Who do you think I am?"  
Ash was confused at this. "What do you mean you don't know? Do you  
have amnesia or something?"  
"(Pikapi, who are you talking to? There's no one there.)"  
Now Ash was even more confused. "But Pikachu, don't you see the guy  
right in front of you?"  
Pikachu shook its head. "(There's no one there...)"  
Why couldn't Pikachu see the boy? "Pikachu, he's right in front of you!"  
"You shouldn't be so hard on him Ash. He really can't see me..." Ash  
turned to the boy again. "Wait, what do you mean he can't see you? And  
how do you know my name?"  
"Wait just a moment; I know a better way of answering your question."  
The boy went over to Pikachu, who was more than worried about his  
friend. The boy placed his hand on Pikachu's head, and to Ash's shock,  
the hand was transparent!  
"Y-your hand!"  
"Huh? Oh yeah, it does that."  
Then, in what seemed less than a second, there was a flash, and the  
boy was gone, leaving behind a dazed Pikachu.  
"Pikachu, are you all right?" Pikachu still looked dazed, but then it  
smiled. "Don't worry about me Ash, I'm alright!"  
"Phew what a...wait a second. You never called me 'Ash' before."  
Pikachu smirked. "Ah, I see you're not that dumb as I thought" Pikachu  
said, but now its voice sounded like the boy!  
"Wait, just what are you? Are you a ghost or something?"  
Pikachu chuckled sadly this time, "Actually, I don't know either."  
"Huh?"  
"I'm obviously not alive, and yet I'm not dead either. It's like I'm  
stuck in between, and I'm hating every single second of it."  
"But at least you're not dead, right?" stated Ash, trying to make the  
conversation less awkward.  
"But I'm not alive either. No one can see or hear me, besides anyone  
I ever knew are already long gone. You're actually the first person  
that I had a conversation with."  
"Oh, I can see why you hate being like this. But what happened to you?  
I mean, did something go wrong or-" Ash was cut off by the boy.  
"I don't remember anything about me old life. I don't even know my  
name, or how long I've been here. All I remember was waking up like  
this and wandering the whole region, watching it grow and prosper. I  
guess I must have done something bad, and this is my punishment."  
"Then why do you follow me around?"  
"I don't know why, but I've been following you around since the day  
you were born. Maybe you might help me pass on to a better life, or  
death. So, will you help me pass on?" Ash stood silent. How could he a  
boy he barely knew when he didn't even know how to solve his own  
problem?  
"I dunno, I mean you know how I am right now. What can I do to help  
you, when I can't even help myself."  
"I know you're going through a tough time right now, but I think I  
have an idea, even though it'll involve all of your friends."  
"My friends? What do they have to do with any of this?"  
"Well Ash, I think your friends might be able to help get us to the  
Island of Waves."


	11. Chapter 10: Ho oh

**Chapter 10: Ho-oh**

I still don't get it. Why was I in a hospital ward in Team Rocket's  
base? Did something happen to me? But why would Team Rocket take care of  
me? Was I much too valuable for them? And what about my friends and  
father? I still can't believe that my father was living in a cliff as  
a tramp, but it was fairly obvious. Enough of that now, I wasn't going  
to get answers if Giovanni keeps on standing there with a smirk. At  
least Jessie and James were gone.  
"All right Giovanni, I want answers! Where am I and what happened to  
me everyone else?" Giovanni just kept on smirking. I swear, I just  
wanted to rip his entire mouth off!  
"Maybe it is best to explain everything to you, nephew." Wait, what?  
Nephew? No...He couldn't be...  
"Uncle Jonathon?"  
"Well, maybe you're not the dim after all." Dim?  
"Well, now that I know you have the intelligence to comprehend what  
I'm about to tell you, I might as well tell you." Man, thus guy was  
really pissing me off. If he weren't my uncle...  
"Well then, where do I start?"  
"Where are my friends? Where is Pikachu and all my other Pokémon?"  
"Patience, your temper will get you nowhere. First, I have to let you  
in on a special plan of mine." I had a gut feeling this wasn't going  
to be good.  
"You see, me and my scientists were working on an experiment to 'heal'  
a human being through the means of aura. You know what aura is, right?"  
I nodded slowly. This definitely wasn't going to be good.  
"Our volunteer was dying from an incurable disease, so we thought the  
experiment would be perfect for him. But we all knew he wasn't going  
to survive unless we could give him aura from a bountiful source. And  
that my boy is where you come in."  
Now I understood. All those attempts, bombing the forest, kidnapping  
Misty, it was just so he could lure me in. And it worked. I couldn't  
believe him! He could have hurt many people, just to toy around with  
his experiment! Even if it was for a good cause, it wasn't worth  
hurting all those people.  
"I know how you feel, and I don't blame you. The truth is, this  
experiment was supposed to help not only the volunteer, but others as  
well. Unfortunately, we gave the volunteer so much aura, he started to  
gain more intelligence. And using that, he became aware enough of  
being capable of using and controlling aura as well. He escaped, and  
so that he wouldn't be caught easily, took the form of you."  
I couldn't believe it. How could Giovanni let this happen, and more  
importantly, how could I?  
"But what did he do to me? Was I unconscious or something? And what  
happened to my friends and father?"  
Giovanni lowered his head sadly. Whoa, I never knew he could have  
emotions. But what made him so sad? Unless...  
"I'm sorry Ash, but he took your friends, Pokémon, and even your  
father and placed them under his control. They belong to him now."  
No...It couldn't be...why them! Why couldn't I do anything to stop him?  
"I'm sorry Ash, but he overtook us all."  
Did he pity me? Well I don't want pity; I wanted revenge...  
"Ash, come with me.  
I followed him out of my bed and walked to a bathroom. It's not like  
he was going to make things better for me. Sadly, I was right. When he  
took me inside, I froze. There was someone in the mirror, with my  
exact hair and face. The only problem is that the hair and skin were  
both white and pale. But the eyes were red, as if they were bleeding.  
Was that really me? What happened to me? But I knew the answer already.  
"He...did this to me, didn't he?"  
Giovanni nodded. I couldn't believe this. This person was alive  
because of me, even though we don't know each other. And he repays me  
like this? Betraying everyone and stealing my friends and Pokémon.  
I'll make sure of it; this guy wasn't going free without some  
punishment.

* * *

"The Island of Waves?" Ash asked. There was something familiar about  
that name; maybe he heard it from Selia or his father before. The boy  
kept on talking.  
"Yes, don't you remember that your father mentioned it before in the  
cliff?"Yeah, now that you...hey wait a second! How'd you know that?"  
"Well I have been following you around everywhere your whole life. I  
probably know you better than yourself. If you want, I can tell you  
what you did when you were five months and three days old!"  
"You know what, I don't wanna know. So what does the island have to do  
with anything?"  
"Well, the island is said to contain the world's entire aura, and has  
enough power to change anything. It might turn you back into a human  
and help me pass on. It's what you call a 'win-win' something, I dunno."  
"I'm pretty sure no one says that anymore. Anyways, we should probably  
get back to my friends. Oh, and one more thing."  
"What?"  
"GET OUT OF PIKACHU'S BODY!"  
"Oh...right."  
There was a quick flash, and once again the boy was back into a ghost,  
and Pikachu was his normal, albeit dazed, self.  
"By the way, I should call you something" said Ash.  
"What do you think I am, a pet?"  
"Well, I've gotta tell my friends something. Otherwise they'll think  
I'm crazy."  
"And that's news to them how?"  
"Shush! Your new name will be...Red!"  
"Red? What kind of name is Red? If anything I should be called Crimson!"  
"That's even worse! What kind of name is Crimson?"  
"What kind of name is Ash?"  
"...Fine let's just go back."

* * *

"All right then Ash, you just wait here for a while. I'll try to come  
up with a plan to capture the impersonator."  
"But uncle, can't I come with you?"  
"No, for now just rest and try to regain your strength. I left some  
books over there for you to read in case you get bored. I'll see you  
soon." And with that sentence, Giovanni and his Persian exited the  
room, leaving me all alone. I hope he hurries up soon; I want to give  
that imposter a piece of my mind! But, since I'm stuck here, I might  
as well do something. Maybe reading one of those books ought to be  
fun. There were a lot of old looking books, but there was one red book  
that looked interesting and short. I picked up and took it with me to  
the bed. It didn't have a title, and the pages were worn-out and  
dusty. I opened it to a random page, and I saw something that caught  
my attention. It was a phrase, and it went along like this, "Yami  
...the energy th...o-exis...th the Hikari of aura. Bo...low  
togeth...balan...nd harmo...Wit...on.t...ther can... exis..." Jeez,  
how old is this book? At least I could read some parts of the page.  
That Yami and Hikari thing, it sounds very interesting. I wonder what they could mean.  
Which one is more powerful, the Aura's Hikari or the Aura's Yami?

* * *

"I wonder what could be taking Ash so long?" asked Selia. She could  
sense something powerful in the area, but didn't know what it was.  
Normally she would be able to find the source with her psychic powers,  
but for some reason it was like it was not there. This just worried  
her more and more. Tajiri, however, was laid-back and lazy.  
"Selia, stop worrying so much. Ash is more than capable of taking care  
of himself, plus he has Pikachu with him. Trust me, he's-"  
At that very moment, Ash came running through the trees and crashed  
right into Tajiri. "...fine."  
"Guys, guys, guys!" Ash was running around in circles, while Pikachu  
and the others just stood there staring at him.  
"Ash, what's wrong?" Selia seemed to be the only one worried about  
Ash, everyone else was getting more and more annoyed.  
"Guys,  
Ijustmetaghostguywhocan'!"  
"Jeez Ash, ever heard of spacin- I mean breathing?" Misty asked.  
Pikachu shocked Ash mildly. Tajiri sighed, "All right Ash just calm  
down. Why don't you tell us, SLOWLY, what happened?"  
Ash took a deep breath and started to tell everyone what had happened.  
After a few minutes, everyone was quiet. Then...  
"So you're telling us that you met a ghost boy who's been following  
you around your whole life because he has no choice?"  
"Yep."  
"And now he wants you to take him to the Island of Waves so that he  
can pass on to the afterlife?"  
"Yep yep yep!"  
"...Ahahahahahaha!"  
"Dad, why are you laughing?"  
But he wasn't the only one. Everyone, except Selia and Pikachu, were  
laughing.  
"So you guys don't believe any of this?"  
"Oh please Ash, how could this all be possible? I can understand you  
turning into a Pokémon, but a ghost boy? What do you think this is a cartoon?"  
"Actually I thought it was more like an anime. But it's true; there  
really is a ghost boy! And I can prove it to you!"  
"Oh, what's he going to do, hold a penny and say it's for luck?"  
"Actually he's going to..." Ash was stuck. He never thought of  
something like this, so he was scratching his head. Then, an idea came  
to him, "Hey I know! Red, take off my bandages please!"  
Then, 'Red' came out next to him and said, "Oi, what am I, a servant?  
And for the last time, call me Crimson!"  
"Shut it Red, you try to think of something else!" Ash whispered to  
him. Everyone else sighed at the sight of Ash talking to himself,  
since they couldn't hear or see 'Red'. But, eventually, 'Red' gave in.  
"...Fine I'll do it."  
Then, to everyone's shock, Ash's head bandages started to come off and  
levitate in the air. Then the bandages started to fly around everyone  
else, which scared the hell out of them. "A-ash, what are you doing?"  
Misty asked.  
"I told you, 'Red' is taking off my bandages."  
"Well make him stop!" Dawn yelled.  
"Sigh, ok. Stop 'Red'!"  
"Don't call me Red!" Then, the bandages fell to the floor. "Aah,  
that's much better." Ash was relieved that the bandages were off, they  
were getting sweaty and itchy. He could feel a tuft of hair on his  
head, which was black and looked just like his bangs. "At least I have  
my hair to make me look better" he thought.  
"So, now do you guys believe me?" He turned to his friends, who were  
still shocked (including Tajiri).  
"Y-yes..." they nodded.  
"All right then, let's go!"  
"Hold on there kiddo." Tajiri grabbed Ash by the scruff of his neck.  
"We can't just walk up to the Island of Waves!"  
"Well duh, we need a boat to get there!" After a conk on the head from  
his father, Ash questioned why they couldn't leave immediately.  
"Ash, the Island of Waves is a sacred place where life begins and  
ends. We need to be careful and well prepared to get there."  
"Your father speaks wisely Ash. He has been to the Island before."  
"Whoa, dad have you gone to the Island before?"  
Tajiri stiffened. "That's none of your business for now. If you really  
want to get to the Island, we'll need to stop for supplies at the  
nearest town."  
"Oh, hey Brock where's the nearest town?"  
"Sorry Ash, I don't have any maps for Kanto."  
"Don't worry, there's one just three miles from here."  
"Wow, that's near!"  
"Yes, but we'll have to keep a low cover there."  
"In case Team Rocket is there?" asked Dawn.  
"No, because they all banned me from ever coming back again after I  
sto- I mean 'borrowed' their supply of sake."  
"...You're a loony, you know that right?"  
"Yes I know, now hurry up everyone!"  
Brock had to pack up everything again. "Darn and I was almost done  
making us pancakes." Ash was very hyper and impatient to leave. "Come  
on guys, hurry up!"  
"Well maybe 'Red' ought to lend us a hand." Misty said sarcastically. At  
that moment, the plates and pans that were supposed to be used were  
picked up by 'Red' and stowed away neatly in Brock's backpack. Which freaked everyone out again.  
"There, happy? I helped out."  
"Alright guys, what do you say?" Ash ignored the frightened looks on  
his friends' faces.  
"Uh, thank you 'Red'." Misty said.  
"Don't call me Red!"  
"'Red' says you're welcome. Now hurry up please!"  
Tajiri got tired of Ash annoying him, so he said, "You know what Ash,  
why don't you and your friends start walking to the town? Selia and I  
will catch up to you."  
Ash, not knowing his father's true intentions, happily agreed and  
started to run off. Pikachu, Misty, Dawn, and Brock ran off after him  
so that they wouldn't lose him. 'Red' just calmly followed them.  
"Finally, a few minutes of silence" thought happily Tajiri.

* * *

"Ash, slow down!" Misty and Dawn tried calling out to Ash, who was  
already far away from them. Pikachu was barely behind him, having to  
use Agility every now and then to get near him.  
"(Jeez Pikapi, where did you get all of this energy?)" Thought Pikachu. Ash was still running happily, jumping every now and then like a child.  
"Come on guys! Last one there is a Slowpoke! Or maybe a rotten Exeggcute!" He called out to his friends, who were resting and lying on the ground behind him.  
"Boy, you guys are lazy" he thought. As he was walking back, Pikachu  
sensed something. "(What was that?)" He got in a defensive stance next  
to Ash.  
"Huh, what's wrong Pikachu?"  
Pikachu was quiet, and then suddenly, pushed Ash to the side. Seconds  
after he did, a huge ball of fire scorched the exact same spot Ash was  
a few seconds ago.  
"Ash! Where are you?" Misty called out for him.  
"Misty, take out your strongest Pokémon and try to have it put out the  
fire. Dawn you go back and warn Selia and Mr. Ketchum." Both girls  
nodded, and went to do their task at hand. 'Red', who had just  
arrived, went straight to Ash.  
"Ash, are you ok?"  
"Yeah, me and Pikachu are ok. But what was that thing?"  
Suddenly, a loud screech rang through the air, causing everyone to  
cover their ears. Then, Ash gasped at the sight of what had caused the  
noise. "Pikachu, 'Red', it's Ho-oh..."

* * *

Tajiri and Selia were all still trying to pack away everything when  
suddenly, Selia felt something.  
"Tajiri!"  
"What, what is it Selia?"  
"I just felt a large amount of power near Ash! It feels like the same  
one as be-" But before she could finish, the same screeching noise was  
heard again. After it stopped, Dawn came tired, and trying to tell  
them both something.  
"Help...fire...Ash..."  
Without any hesitation, Tajiri went off to find Ash. "Ho-oh, if it  
really is you, you better not do any harm to Ash" he thought.

* * *

However, Tajiri was not the only one who heard Ho-oh's screech.  
"That sound...Could it be…Ho-oh?"  
'Ash' had heard it from his room, and recognized it as the same screech he 'heard' the day he started his journey. Giovanni heard it as well.  
"Is that Ho-oh's cry?" He went over to a window, and could see a  
shining bird descending from the clouds. "Hmm, it looks like I have a plan after all..."

* * *

Ash looked up as a giant shadow fell over him and the others. Misty  
was trying her best to put out the fire with her Starmie, but the fire  
would not extinguish. When she saw Ho-oh, she stopped and gasped at  
the sight of it. It was huge, with red, white, and green feathers and  
looked as though it was shining in the sun. Brock was unwary at the  
sight of it. Why would Ho-oh descend to the ground to where Ash was if  
it was the one who attacked him?  
Ash, however, was not thinking of any of this at the moment. In fact,  
he was rather excited that he was meeting the legendary Ho-oh face to  
face.  
"Whoa, I can't believe it! I'm actually meeting Ho-oh!" He kept on  
smiling at Ho-oh, unaware that Pikachu and 'Red' were suspicious of Ho-  
oh. Ho-oh came closer to Ash, and then a smooth, masculine voice  
started to speak.  
"Are you the one named Ash?" Ho-oh was using Telepathy, and it enabled  
it to talk with Ash.  
"Uh...yeah, but how do you know my name?"  
"You are the one with the aura power, is that right?" Ho-oh responded.  
"(Yeah, but that still doesn't explain how you know his name)" said  
Pikachu. He still did not trust Ho-oh at all.  
"You're quite right, forgive me. As you know, I am Ho-oh, guardian of  
the skies. I have been assigned to watch over you Ash, and help you  
get to the Island of Waves."  
"Oh, so you're like a guardian to me?"  
"What a funny guardian. Last time I checked, when you want to protect  
someone, you don't throw a freaking fireball at them!" 'Red' yelled,  
even if no one but Ash could hear him. Ho-oh faced Ash with a look  
like he asked for forgiveness.  
"I'm sorry for attacking you, but I wanted to see just how capable you  
would be in battle."  
Ash looked at Ho-oh confused. "Wait, you want to battle me?"  
Ho-oh nodded, and Ash's faced brightened up. "Ok, I'll battle you!"  
Pikachu and 'Red' were shocked.  
"(Pikapi, what are you saying?)"  
Ash looked at Pikachu with a childish grin. "Don't worry Pikachu, I  
may be a Pokémon, but we can still battle!"  
"We?"  
Ho-oh's expression turned serious.  
"I'm sorry, but I want to battle ONLY you, Ketchum."  
Suddenly, a ring of fire started to surround Ho-oh, Ash, and Pikachu, separating them from  
the others. 'Red', who couldn't be separated because the fires just went through him, was still with Ash, yelling at him.  
"Ash, you retard! Don't you know what you just did?"  
"I'm guessing I'm not battling Ho-oh?"  
"Oh no, YOU will be battling Ho-oh, by yourself!"  
"What? But I can't battle Ho-oh; I don't even know any attacks!"  
Then, Ho-oh chuckled menacingly, which caught Ash's attention. "Well  
then Ketchum, you shouldn't have agreed to my offer!" Pikachu let out a Thunderbolt, but Ho-oh merely shrugged it off. Then, Ho-oh's eyes turned golden and it let out a rainbow colored like beam at Pikachu, sending it out of the ring of fire.  
"Pikachu!" Shocked, and now scared at Ho-oh's power, Ash just stood there as Ho-oh let out a Flamethrower that was headed right towards him...

* * *

By the time Tajiri, Selia, and Dawn went back with the others, Ho-oh had already begun to raise a firewall, preventing the others from getting to Ash. Misty already had all of her Water Pokémon out to stop the fire, but was not very successful. Dawn took out Piplup to try and stop the fire as well, but not even its Whirlpool could stop it. Worried, everyone turned to Tajiri.  
"Tajiri, what are we going to do?"  
"I…have no idea!" Everyone fell over, and Misty took out her mallet and smacked it on Tajiri's head.  
"Ow, my head!"  
"Tajiri, as Ash's father YOU are the one who's supposed to think of a plan! NOW THINK!"  
"Jeez, you sure are bossy. Hey by the way, where's Pikachu?"As soon as he said that, Pikachu came flying out of the fire, landing right next to everyone.  
"Oh no, Pikachu!" Misty grabbed the injured and weak Pokémon in her arms, her other Pokémon stopped attacking by now and came back to her. Tajiri turned to Selia, "Selia, do you think you can look and see what's going on?" Selia nodded, and once again she used her psychic powers to try and what was going on with Ash. Everyone crowded around her to see what was going on with Ash…

* * *

As the Flamethrower was getting nearer to Ash, 'Red' yelled at Ash to move out of the way.  
"Ash! Get out of the way! Move! Don't just stand there, dodge it!" Then, as if it was some sort of instinct, Ash quickly moved to the left, dodging the Flamethrower in mere seconds. Ho-oh turned its Flamethrower's direction, but Ash was much faster than it. Ho-oh stopped its attack.  
"Ash, now's your chance! Attack it with a move!" 'Red' yelled to Ash, despite the fact that he was right near him.  
Ash, however, was confused on how to do an attack. "But 'Red', I don't what kind of attacks to use."  
'Red' face slapped himself, and then thought of something. "Hey I know! Since you move pretty fast, why not use Quick Attack?"  
"Quick Attack? Alright, I'll give it a shot!"Ash began to run towards Ho-oh, and in his mind he kept telling himself to use Quick Attack. Soon, he started to run faster, until a white trail of light appeared behind him. Before Ho-oh could do anything, Ash struck him right in the middle.

* * *

"Hey, I guess Ash isn't that bad battling as a Pokémon" Misty said. Brock and Dawn were glad that Ash wasn't injured, but Selia and Tajiri were still not relieved.  
"I wouldn't start celebrating just yet Misty. This battle is still not over yet!"

* * *

After hitting Ho-oh directly, Ash was surprised to know that Quick Attack barely did any damage to Ho-oh.  
"No way, how come it didn't do anything?"  
"Ash, a weak attack like Quick Attack isn't going to take down a legendary! You have to come up with a better strategy!"  
"Hmm, a strategy…" While Ash was thinking, Ho-oh decided to use this time to attack it with Flamethrower again. 'Red' saw this, and warned Ash. Ash looked up, and instead of dodging it, he braced himself for the attack. The Flamethrower completely covered and surrounded Ash.

* * *

"Ash no!" Misty and Dawn were about to run into the fire, but they were called back by Tajiri.  
"Hold on girls, Ash is still not down yet!"

* * *

As the fire cleared, 'Red' expected to see the incinerated body of Ash, but to his surprise, Ash was still standing. Ho-oh was also surprised to Ash standing as well.  
"What? But I beat you!"  
Ash winked and smirked, "Bet ya didn't know that a Riolu could learn Endure!"  
Ash moved forward and used Quick Attack to catch Ho-oh off guard.  
Ho-oh was furious at this point. "Drat, if I can't attack him from long-range, I'll just have to get closer" it thought. Ash was about to use Quick Attack again, but then he noticed Ho-oh glowing in a blue light. 'Red' was confused as to why it was glowing, wondering if it was going to use another attack. Ash then realized what move this was.  
"Oh no, that's Brave Bird!" Ho-oh pulled in its wings and started to burst into flames. Ash tried to get out of its way, but Ho-oh was much too massive.  
"Wait a minute; I'll just use Endure again!"Ash thought. Ash turned and tried to use Endure again, but to his surprise it didn't work! "I guess Endure doesn't always work…"  
As Ho-oh drew closer, all 'Red' could think of was, "Man, this is going to hurt like hell."

* * *

No one waited to see what happened next; they all rushed over to the ring of fire.  
"Ash!"  
"Are you Ok?"  
"Say something!"  
Then, a huge explosion came from inside the fire. Once the smoke cleared away, the fire did as well, revealing an unconscious Ash in Ho-oh's claws. Tajiri immediately went over to confront Ho-oh, seething in anger and not letting anyone stop him.  
"Ho-oh, you drop my son this instant!"  
Ho-oh kept his serious demeanor, "Sorry, but you know as well as I do that I must take him to the Island of Waves. I hope there are no harsh feelings." Ho-oh spread its wings and took off over them, heading out towards the sea. Selia then started to glow, and transformed once more into Cresselia. "Don't worry, I'll get him back."  
But before she could leave, Pikachu jumped out of Misty's arms, and went over to Selia.  
"Pikaa…Pikachuka pi." (Please…take me with you.)  
Cresselia smiled, impressed that the Pokémon would come with her to save his friends, even if he was injured himself.  
"Ok then, hang on tight." Pikachu jumped on Cresselia's back, and soon, she rose and flew towards Ho-oh's direction. However, that did not assure anyone just yet, especially Tajiri. "Ho-oh, you better not lay a damn finger on Ash!"He thought.

* * *

Ho-oh still kept its tight grasp on Ash, who still was unconscious. "Sorry about this, but if that fool you call father will not take you to the Island, then I will!" Suddenly, a beam of electricity flew past Ho-oh, intentionally missing him. Caught off guard, Ho-oh nearly fell, but it quickly composed itself. It looked back to see who had fired it, and saw Pikachu standing on top of Cresselia, who was gaining on Ho-oh. "Drat, I forgot about Cresselia" thought Ho-oh. It tuned to use Flamethrower on her, but Cresselia instead used Double Team to dodge it. Multiple images of Cresselia surrounded Ho-oh, who stopped the attack. "Drat, which one's which? I can't attack her directly in case Ash gets hurt, but how can I hit her with just my Flamethrower?"Ho-oh thought. Then it noticed something. There were copies of ONLY Cresselia, and only one with Cresselia and Pikachu.  
"Ha, looks like Cresselia will need a better plan than that!"As it prepared another Flamethrower, Ho-oh was suddenly stopped and could not move.  
"What the-?" A blue blow surrounded it, and Ho-oh immediately realized it was Psychic.  
"Drat that Cresselia!" Now that Ho-oh was immobilized, Cresselia took this time to get under it and free Ash. However, Ho-oh kept its tight grip on Ash, preventing both Pikachu and Cresselia from freeing Ash. Cresselia tried to use her Psychic powers to force Ho-oh to free Ash, but it did not work either.  
"Ho-oh really is much stronger than it looks. I can't free Ash, unless…" She turned to Pikachu. "Pikachu, I need you to use Thunderbolt on Ash!" Pikachu looked shocked.  
"Pika! Pikachu Pika Pikapi!"(What! I can't attack him like this!)  
"Pikachu, trust me! It's the only way we can free him!" Unsure, Pikachu decided to trust Cresselia and give Ash a slight shock. It let out its weakest Thunderbolt, which shocked both Ash and Ho-oh. Ash screamed, but Ho-oh's screeches blocked his out. Pikachu stopped, but the shock allowed Ho-oh to break out of the psychic attack.  
"I must say, I expected more from you Cresselia. Did you actually think a weak Thunderbolt like that could stop me?"  
"We weren't trying to stop you Ho-oh."  
"What?"  
"I was just trying to see just how much Ash will kick your ass."  
As she said this, Ash started to glow the familiar blue. Pikachu and Cresselia immediately grinned, as they knew this was Ash's 'special' protection. Ho-oh felt as if his entire claw was on fire. Soon, the pain spread towards his whole body, until finally, it was as if Ash exploded. He dropped Ash, who was soon caught by Cresselia. "Really Ho-oh, I expected more from you." She flew off to reunite with Ash's friends, forcing Ho-oh to land somewhere else in the forest.  
Once she reached the ground safely, Cresselia turned back into Selia, still holding Ash in her arms. Tajiri and the others were relieved, but shocked at the state Ash was in. Unconscious, burned, and even zapped.  
"We'll have to take him to a Pokémon Center" said Brock. Everyone agreed.  
"I just hope they don't remember me…"said Tajiri.

* * *

Áuthor's Note: Wee, Chapter #10 already!


	12. Chapter 11: Darkrai

Chapter 11: Darkrai

Pikachu, Tajiri, Selia, Misty, Brock, and Dawn were running as fast as they could to the town. Ash was still unconscious in Selia's arms, who was trying her best to heal Ash's injuries.

"Selia, how long is it until we get there?" Asked Misty.  
"Don't worry, we're almost there."  
"Which reminds me..." said Tajiri. He stopped in his tracks, and grabbed Ash's bag. He took out Ash's hat, a pair of blue sunglasses, and a light blue scarf. He put them on in less than a second, and turned to everyone.

"Well, how do I look?"  
"Tacky" said Dawn. Tajiri sweat dropped, and answered back angrily.  
"Well excuse me, but SOME of us are banned from stepping foot within 150 miles of the town!"

"Tajiri be quiet! Now hurry up everyone, the sooner we get to the town, the sooner we can get Ash healed" said Selia.  
Everyone agreed, and so they continued running.

* * *

"All right, does everyone understand the plan now?" asked Giovanni. He and his Persian were standing in a large assembly room in front of dozens of Team Rocket Grunts or so. He had gone over his current plan on capturing Ash. Everyone nodded, and soon the assembly room had become empty once more. "Don't worry Persian, this plan shall be fool- proof" he said as he scratched Persian's head. "Speaking of fools, why  
don't we check in on my 'nephew'?" They exited the room and headed towards the hospital ward.

Once they got there, they saw that 'Ash' had his ear next to the wall, as though he was listening to something important.

"Uh Ash, what are you doing?" asked Giovanni. 'Ash' looked up, not realizing that Giovanni had entered.  
"Oh, hello there uncle. I'm sorry; I thought I had heard a cry outside."  
"A cry? What kind of cry?"  
"Well, it sounded like Ho-oh's."  
"Oh, so you heard it as well?"  
"Apparently yes. Oh, by the way, are you done making up a plan?"  
"Huh, oh yes. For now, I have sent some agents to scout the area in case they spotted him."  
"Oh, that sounds alright" said 'Ash' disappointed.  
"Is there something on your mind, Ash?"  
"Well, I was hoping I would go and help you find him."  
Giovanni sighed, "I'm sorry, but it might be a bit too much for you to handle. Why don't you read some of these books instead?"  
"But I already read all those books twice! I have nothing to do and have no one to talk to! Please, let me do some-" But before he could finish, 'Ash' fell to his knees, clutching his sides as though he was in pain. "Ash, what's wrong?"  
"...It hurts..."

"Persian, get a medic. Ash, tell me where it hurts." Persian left the room to find someone, while Giovanni crouched down to see what was wrong with 'Ash'. There wasn't anything wrong with him on the outside, so Giovanni assumed that something was wrong on the inside. But before he could find out anymore, 'Ash' fainted. The medic came in, albeit  
late, and went to see what happened.

"Alright then doctor, what happened to him? Is there anything wrong internally?"  
"Well it's too soon to tell, I'll have to run some tests on him. Hopefully it's nothing too serious."  
"For your sake it better be."

* * *

It took them a few minutes, but the gang finally reached the town. It was somewhat small, with no buildings taller than at least five stories. Despite its size, the town looked like it had a tight security, with an iron gate guarded by two big burly guards that would let people enter and leave. Tajiri immediately started to doubt whether his 'disguise' would work.

"Hey guys, mind if I hide behind you guys?"  
Misty sighed angrily, "Oh Tajiri grow up! What's the worst that could happen?"  
Just then, the guards came up to all of them, leering down on them with the scariest eyes any of them had ever seen. Tajiri was shaking all over, but after seeing Ash in his injured state, he calmed himself down. He went up to the guard first, and asked, "Excuse me good sir, do you happen to know if there's a Pokémon center nearby?"

The guard looked at Tajiri suspiciously. "Yeah, there's one a few blocks down, why?"  
"Well, my son and his friends need a place to rest and heal their Pokémon."  
"But why are you all in a large group?"  
"For security reasons. Now may you please let us pass?"  
"Hmm, I don't know. The boy looks a bit too weird to be your son."

The guard pointed to Brock, who looked confused as to why he was being pointed at.  
"Damn it, I forgot Ash was a Pokémon!" thought Tajiri.  
"Uh, well, you see, he's...my step-son! He has mostly his mother's looks, so that's why he looks weird" said Tajiri nervously.

"Hey, I can hear you" said Brock.  
"So may you please let us in?"  
The guard was thinking deeply. "I don't know, we don't take too kindly to liars here." Knowing this conversation was getting nowhere, Dawn had an idea. She grabbed Ash from Selia's arms, and walked up to the guard and put up her best cute face. Pikachu joined her to add to the scheme. "Please sit, my Pokémon is very hurt! If we don't take it to a Pokémon Center, he could..."

Then, Dawn broke into tears as the guard was hit with a sense of guilt. Eyes watering, he stepped aside to let everyone pass. "I'm sorry, please go quickly! I can't stand here and let this Pokémon suffer!" Everyone grinned and thanked him. Soon, Tajiri and the guard were the only ones left. As he left, the guard put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey man, I'm sorry for holding you up like that."  
"Oh, it's no problem...man dude."  
"You know, for a second there I thought you were some idiot that our town banned some time ago."  
"Oh really, well what did he do?"  
"Well, he would steal a customer's sake whenever they weren't looking, and it got so bad he stole the town's year supply of sake ingredients, saying that he could make it taste better."  
"Wow, that's some loony! I bet that's why there are so many policemen, huh?"  
"Yep, so be careful!"

"Look, there's the Pokémon Center!" Dawn pointed out to a white building with a red roof. On top of the roof was a large orange P.  
Everyone smiled, relieved that they had arrived. They entered quickly, and a smiling Nurse Joy welcomed them. Instead of breaking into a love- filled fantasy, Brock quickly pulled Nurse Joy over to them. "Nurse Joy, please help us! We need you to heal our friend quickly!" Dawn showed her Ash, and Nurse Joy quickly took him into her arms.

"Oh my! The poor thing needs urgent care! Chansey, the stretcher!" A Chansey came in wheeling in a stretcher.  
"Chansey Chansey!" (I'm here to help!)

"Chansey, can you take this..."  
"Riolu" said Dawn.  
"Right, take Riolu to the main emergency room, stat!"  
Nurse Joy put down Ash in the stretcher, and both she and Chansey took him away. Pikachu got off Dawn's shoulder and followed them.

"Hey, Pikachu!"  
"You three go ahead" said Selia. They all looked at her in confusion.  
"Don't worry, I'll stay here and wait for Tajiri. You guys stay with Ash." Grinning, they thanked her and went off.

Meanwhile, Tajiri was walking through the town, hoping no one will recognize him, when he stopped in his tracks. "Huh, that's weird. It was as if there was some sort of dark energy near me. Nah, I must be paranoid. Besides, I need to go see how Ash is."

Tajiri took off, unaware that there really was a dark shadowy figure behind him.

* * *

Pikachu, Misty, Brock, and Dawn were sitting outside of the room Ash was in. Normally, they would be looking through the room's window, but there were curtains blocking the view. Nurse Joy still had not come out yet with any news. Everyone was dead silent, too busy worrying over their injured friend.

"Wow, I guess Ash got more hurt than we thought" said Dawn, trying to break the silence. It didn't work, everyone was still quiet. Luckily for Dawn, Tajiri and Selia soon came.  
"Tajiri!"  
"So, how is he?" asked Tajiri  
"Well, Nurse Joy still hasn't come out yet" said Brock.  
"Ah, I see." Tajiri went over to the window, when suddenly, Nurse Joy came out. Tajiri went over to her at once.  
"Nurse Joy! How is he?" To everyone's relief, Nurse Joy smiled. "Don't worry, Riolu will be just fine! All it needs is some rest and it'll be out before the end of today."  
Tajiri sighed, "What a relief. Uh Miss, do you mind if you open the curtains please?"  
Nurse Joy nodded. "Sure, for now only one visitor can come and see Riolu." Nurse Joy stepped inside the room and opened the curtains.

Inside the room, everyone could see Ash in his Riolu body, sleeping peacefully in the stretcher/bed they were so used to seeing in Pokémon Centers.

"He looks better now" said Tajiri.  
"If you don't mind me asking, but are you Riolu's trainer?" Nurse Joy asked Tajiri.  
"Oh, well, yeah I guess."  
"You're very lucky, that looks like a very fine Pokémon. Just remember to take good care of it!"  
"What am I, ten?" thought Tajiri. "Of course, don't worry about it!"  
And with that, Nurse Joy made her way back to the reception desk.

"Hey Pikachu, why don't you go in first?" suggested Tajiri  
"Pi?" (Me?)  
Tajiri nodded, "Of course, you're his closest friend. I think you should go in and see how he's doing." Tajiri opened the door, and Pikachu happily went inside. Tajiri closed the door and went back to looking at Ash, even though there was nothing to watch. "...She's  
right you know."  
Everyone looked up to him. "Ash really is a great kid. I just can't believe it took me five years to realize it."  
No one knew what to say. "I can tell just by looking at you three that Ash has been a good friend to you, risking everything and anything to help you." Selia frowned, not liking where this was going.

"You know, it's a shame. I bet that no matter how much Ash will do to help people; he'll always have to suffer. Maybe it's because his friends are never there to help him..."

Misty looked as though he had said a foul word to her. "What did you say?"  
Brock looked as if he was insulted in front of his family. "Tajiri, what do you mean we don't help Ash?"  
Dawn looked like both Misty and Brock now. "We always help Ash when he needs it!"

"Tajiri, how can you even think that?"  
"I'm sorry Selia, but I sure did not see them help Ash when he was carried off by Ho-oh!"  
"Well excuse us, but at least we didn't drop him into he forest!" Misty was about as red as her hair right now.  
"All right both of you stop right now!" Dawn had gotten in between Tajiri and Misty, trying to make sure neither of them started a fight.

"Ash is recovering right now and could wake up at any given moment. And I doubt the first thing he wants to see is his father and friends fighting with each other!" Both Tajiri and Misty stopped.

"I'm sorry; I should not have criticized you all like that. But you have to understand why I did it."  
"Because you're an a-"  
"No, because you guys have to realize that this won't be one of your day-to-day adventuress. This might be a matter of life and death, and I can't have a bunch of kids running around."  
"We can take of ourselves, right guys?" said Misty.  
"I'm sure you can, but how do you know you might not get kidnapped again? And when you do, do you really think Ash will be able to save you?"

That had struck a cord with them. Now that they thought about it, Ash had always helped them out more than they could help him.

"So you think Ash is better off without us?" asked Brock.  
"I think it's safer for you all and Ash if you three leave. I'm sure you'll be safe in Sinnoh."

Brock was deep in thought. It would be best for them to leave somewhere safe and not cause any problems for Tajiri. But then, how would Ash feel if they left? After all, he was rarely without his friends, and he'll hate them for leaving.

"Well I see your point, but what about Ash?"  
"I'm sure he'd want you safe. He might feel bad, but he'll feel worse if any of you got hurt."  
Then, Misty stepped up. "...Alright, we'll leave." Everyone looked shocked as she said this. They all thought that she would be the one least likely to agree.

"Misty, you're actually agreeing with Tajiri?" asked a shocked Dawn. Misty nodded, "He's right you know. Why should we go if we'll only be getting in the way? Besides, if we get in trouble Ash can't help us."  
"I'm glad you see it my way Misty" said Tajiri. "Phew, and here I thought I would have the most trouble with her" he thought.

Dawn and Brock, however, were not entirely convinced but knew it would do no good arguing over it.  
"Fine, we'll find a ship that'll take us to Sinnoh" sighed Brock.  
"Maybe we can go to Twinleaf town with my mom" said Dawn, trying to make the moment better.  
Tajiri nodded, "I wish you all the best of luck. Hopefully we'll all see each other again real soon."  
"I'm going to miss you all" said Selia sadly.

"So will I Selia!" cried Brock.  
"It was nice meeting Ash's long-lost father. Say goodbye to Pikachu for me" said Dawn. As if on cue, Pikachu opened the door and stepped out. He had heard yelling before and wanted to know what was going on.

"Pika pikachu?" (What's wrong guys?)  
Misty looked at him sadly and said, "Pikachu, me, Dawn, and Brock have to leave now."  
Pikachu couldn't believe what he was hearing.  
"Pika? Pika pikachu Pikapi!" (What? You can't leave Pikapi!)  
"I'm sorry Pikachu, but we have to go. It's for our and Ash's own good. I hope you understand."  
"Pi..." (But...)  
"Pikachu" Tajiri crouched down to Pikachu's level. "Wouldn't you prefer Ash's friends gone and safe than with us in danger? What if something happens to them, huh? Ash would never be able to live with himself, would you?" No matter how much he tried to argue, deep down Pikachu knew Tajiri was right. Either that or he was a really good liar.  
"Cha...pikachukapi pika" (Ok...goodbye guys)  
Misty bended down and hugged Pikachu. "Promise me that you'll take good care Ash and not let him do anything stupid, ok?"  
"Chu…" (Ok…)

Misty got up and gave Ash's bag to Selia, feeling a bit paranoid with the feeling that she'll never see it again.  
"Make sure you tell Ash that we said goodbye" said Misty. Selia nodded, "I will, don't worry."  
And with that, Misty, Brock, and Dawn left.

As they walked out the door, they couldn't help but notice the large quantity of people outside.  
"Wow, this town can sure be crowded" said Dawn.  
"That's because despite the cliffs, many boats come this way" explained Brock. "I'm sure we'll find a boat to Sinnoh here, right Misty?"  
"Huh, oh sure" said a somewhat distracted Misty.  
"You're going to love Sinnoh Misty! It's so huge, and has a mountain, and it's-" But before she could finish, Brock cut her off.  
"Dawn, shush! Can't you see that Misty is going through a tough time right now?"  
"Yeah, I'd be depressed too if I had to leave behind my boyfriend" said Dawn, trying to mess with Misty. However, Misty didn't even glare at her menacingly, which shocked Dawn.  
"Wow, she must be depressed. I wonder why it's bothering her so much."  
Brock sighed, "Isn't it obvious? It's called love."

* * *

Tajiri sighed, "What am I going to tell him?" Tajiri knew fully well that Ash would never make his friends leave like that. After all, he was so much like a child and would be upset whenever a friend would leave.

"I know! I could tell him that the Brock guy had to take care of his gym, while the Misty girl had to go compete in a contest thingy and the Dawn girl went to take care of her siblings! Or was it Brock who had siblings? Now that I think about it, Misty doesn't strike me as a coordinator, whatever the heck that is. Argh, what should I do?" He was furious at himself for not coming up with a reasonable excuse. If Selia was there, she could have helped him, but she was busy preparing food and other things for their journey. Pikachu was still in Ash's room, waiting for him to wake up. Tajiri was sitting on the floor outside of the room, not wanting to be there at the moment.

"Come on Tajiri, think, THINK! Hmm, I guess all those nagging people were right; drinking does kill your brain cells. Oh well, I guess I should be worried more about Ash instead of...whatever I was thinking right now." Tajiri got up and went inside the room, deciding to check up on Ash. Pikachu was lying near Ash's stretcher/bed, sleeping a little.  
"Oh good, he's still asleep. Hopefully he'll stay like this for a few more-" Ironically, it was at this time that Ash started to wake up.  
"...hours."  
Ash started to move a little, and opened his eyes slowly. Unfortunately, the first thing he saw was his father messy and hairy face over him, which was enough to scare him out of his wits.

"AAAAHHHH!" His scream was loud enough to wake up Pikachu from its sleep, but not loud enough for anyone to hear it from the outside. Tajiri put his hands over Ash's mouth, to make sure no one could hear him. Even Pikachu had to shock Ash to stop him from screaming.

"Pikapi, pika CHU!" (Pikapi, shut UP!)

"Ash, be quiet! Do you want Nurse Joy to come in here?"

Ash quieted down, but then asked Tajiri, "Nurse Joy? What do you mean 'come in here'? Where is 'here'?"

Tajiri sighed, "Ash, do you remember what happened after your battle with Ho-oh?"

Ash shook his head, "No, I remember that Ho-oh was going to use Brave Bird on me, and then, nothing. I don't remember being in pain or anything."

"Good thing you passed out, 'cause that was some beating you got."

"Gee, thanks for reminding me. So you guys took me to a Pokémon center?"

"Pika pika" (Pretty much)

"We've been worried sick about you Ash."

"Aww, Pikachu were you taking care of me this whole time?"

"Pika, chu pika pikachu." (Yeah, don't mention it.)

Ash then looked around the room, as though he was trying to find something. "Hey, where are my friends?"

Tajiri and Pikachu immediately stiffened, still not sure what to tell him. "Umm, well…you see…it's very simple…"

"Are they outside? Can I go see them? Please please please!"

Tajiri sighed, "Ash, I'm sorry but your friends are no longer here."

"What do ya mean they're not here? What happened to them?"

"Well, I thought it would be best if they…left."

"…They're not gone are they?"

"Ash, don't you think they'd be safer if they stay somewhere else? This is a dangerous journey we're making, so it's best if they stay here."

"But…they'll be in more danger here! I want them to come with us! They can take care of themselves!"

"I'm sorry Ash, I know how you feel but they're not going and that's FINAL!" Tajiri stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him. Pikachu and Ash were left all alone.

Then, Ash got off the bed and quickly closed the curtains, even if he was too small to pull them.

"(Uh Pikapi, what are you doing?)"

"We're leaving Pikachu."

"(Leaving?)"

"Yeah, I can't let my friends leave! They're in this as much as we are, and they'll be in danger out there. I'm going to find them."

"(Uh, did you forget that you are a POKÉMON! You'll be captured by the time you step a foot out of this building!)"

"Oh shut it. I bet if 'Red' was here, he'd help me escape."

"Can you stop calling me that?"

As though he was summoned, 'Red' appeared from the far end of the room.

"'Red'! How long have you been there?"

"Long enough. Anyways, I think I shall help you find your friends. They're in more danger out there than with you."

"You'll help me? Yay! And here I thought you were a just a stubborn ghost."

"Hey…

Pikachu sighed, not understanding what was going on. "(All right, he can help. But if he posses my body again, I'll blast you into oblivion!)"

'Red' looked around, trying to see what he can come up with. "We can't just leave through the front door; your father might see you."

"Hmm…it sure is tricky." Then, Ash noticed a window that was hanging a few feet above him. "Hey, what a conveniently placed window. Seriously, where do these things come from?"

"(I know, right?)"

"Hey 'Red', give me a boost please?"

"Stop calling me that!"

'Red' grabbed Ash and lifted him up, allowing him to look out the window. Ash could see an alley outside.

"Hey guys, there's an alley out here. If I can just open the window…" Ash pushed on the glass, until finally it opened.

"Okay 'Red', lift me and Pikachu up and out of this window."

"Jeez, I really am your servant aren't I?"

"Oh shut up and lift us!"

"(Now now, let's just get this over with!)"

'Red' lifted Ash and Pikachu higher, until they were finally able to crawl out the window and land outside.

"Yeah, we did it!"

"I did it."

"Oh 'Red', there's no I in team."

"Giovanni sir!" The doctor from before had run up to Giovanni who was waiting outside of the hospital room 'Ash' was in.

"Is it about the clone?"

"Yes sir."

"Well, what's wrong with him?"

"T-that's the problem sir, there is nothing wrong with him."

"What?"

"I checked everything, brain activity, blood flow, everything! He's about as healthy as you and me."

"I don't understand, it looked too real to be faked."

"Well he's awake now, so lets be glad nothing happened to him."

"However, there was something strange about him."

"What was it?"

"As I was checking him, it was as if some burn marks and injuries that Pokémon get from battling appeared on him. When I checked it again, they disappeared. I have no idea what could have caused it."

* * *

"I wish I wasn't so hard on him, I bet he probably hates me by now. I don't blame him though. Five years after I was gone, he went on to become a great Pokémon Master, while I spent my time in a cliff cave, drinking Sake and watching the sea turn and turn and turn. Then, I finally see him again, and I don't even recognize him, bur he recognizes me! And now, I've driven his friends away, plus I have to take him to a dangerous island where even the tiniest thing can destroy the world."

"…Uh sir for the last time, go away!"

Tajiri was standing over the Nurse Joy's counter, not realizing that he had just told his life story to her. "Oops, sorry…"

"That's okay" she said cheerfully, "now please leave me alone."

Tajiri sighed, "Fine, I have better things to do."

He went outside, hoping to see if Selia was around. For some reason, he felt as if someone was watching him. "There's something wrong with this town, I can feel it" he thought.

"Tajiri!"

Selia ran up to Tajiri carrying what seemed (to Tajiri) hundreds of bags on her arms.

"Jeez Selia, how can you carry all those things?"

"Well, it helps to have psychic powers, but be a gentleman and help me!" She unloaded nearly all the bags in Tajiri's unprepared arms, causing him to drop them all on the floor.

"Oh, you're no help!" She grabbed bag by bag, made sure no one was watching them, and then teleported them somewhere. "That'll be much easier."

"You could have done that in the first place you know."

"Oh shut up! By the way, has Ash woken up yet?"

Tajiri froze, "Well, yeah…"

"What's wrong Tajiri?"

"I told him about his friends, and he wasn't very happy with it."

"Don't worry, let's just go and explain it to him better. After all, he did inherit your intelligence."

"Why thank you…I think."

They went back inside and walked to Ash's room.

"Huh, that's weird."

"What?"

"I don't remember closing the curtains in Ash's room."

They entered quickly, and just as he thought, Ash and Pikachu were not there.

"They're gone!" cried Selia.

Tajiri noticed the open window, and face-palmed himself. "How could I forget about the window?"

* * *

"I can't believe we weren't chosen to look for the twerp" sighed James miserably.

"I can't believe we were demoted!" yelled an angry Jessie.

"Hey, it's better den gettin' fired" countered Meowth.

"Not if we have to stay here and answer the phones!" Jessie, James, and Meowth were all sitting around a desk with over a hundred different ringing phones. After their most recent failure, Giovanni decided that the three were obviously not the best agents to do anything. So he took away their jobs as traveling agents and gave them desk work, a job that they were not supposed to screw up easily.

However, seeing as they were Jessie, James, and Meowth…

"Hello, hello, hello?"

"James, you're holding it wrong."

"Oops, hello there?" James flipped the phone the right way and could finally hear the other person yelling at him.

"Who the heck is working the phones? I must deliver a message to the boss!"

"Oh sure, what's it about?"

"I need you to tell the boss that we have caught sight of the target's friends exiting a nearby town's Pokémon Center."

"I'll tell him right away sir!"

"I'm a woman!"

"Eeek, I'm sorry!" James quickly hanged up, feeling very embarrassed.

"All right then, I'm going to see the boss now!" James announced, standing up.

"Have fun" replied Jessie.

"Thanks…I guess."

James made his way towards Giovanni's office, where he waited until he was allowed to go in. Inside the office, Giovanni seemed to be deep in thought over something, but snapped out of it once he saw James.

"Ugh, what is it now?"

"Oh, um, well, s-someone said t-that t-they…" stuttered James, who was intimidated by the other man.

Giovanni sighed, "Well, thank you for wasting my time. You may go now."

"No wait! One of the agents said that they just saw the twerp's friends in town!"

That immediately caught Giovanni's attention. "What? Where?"

James cowered, "He, I mean, she said that they came out of the Pokémon Center!"

Giovanni's familiar smirk came back, "Well, this is the best news I've heard all day! Thank you for advising me."

"Um, you're welcome."

"Now all I need to do is go down and capture them."

"B-but sir, if you go then who'll run headquarters?"

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but you will."

"B-but but…"

"No buts now make sure you lock up headquarters when I'm gone and be vigilant over the clone."

"Oh please, he's only a kid."

"I know, but there is something about him that unnerves me…"

* * *

"Waa, I'm so hungry…"

"(Pikapi, will you please be quiet?)"

"Your Pikachu is right Ash. You're going to blow our cover!"

"Cover, what cover? Me and Pikachu are walking in a cardboard box!"

It was true. As Ash was arguing with 'Red', he and Pikachu were walking in a cardboard box in an alley so that they would not be seen. Lucky for them, there wasn't anyone around in this part of town.

"(What I still don't understand is why we're under a cardboard box if no one is around!)"

"Oh shut up! Anyways, 'Red' have you seen them anywhere?"

"No, and will you stop calling me that?"

"(Pikapi, do you hear that?)"

"Hear what?"

"(Shush, listen!)" Ash quieted down, and 'Red' went to see what Pikachu was hearing. Ash heard the sound of footsteps along the road, but then quieted immediately.

"Did you hear that?" said one voice. It sounded like a teenage female voice.

"Hear what?" said another voice. This one sounded like an older male's voice.

"I could have sworn I heard some voices" said the first voice.

"Maybe you were thinking about your boyfriend!" said a new voice. This one was also a female, but sounded younger.

"He's not by boyfriend!" said the first voice again.

"Hey, that kind of sounds like…" Ash then recognized who the voice belonged to. He pushed the box off of himself and ran into the street, jumping into the arms of-

"MISTYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

Misty, who did not see Ash coming her way, fell back in surprise as Ash landed on top of her. Brock and Dawn, who were right next to Misty, also fell back in surprise. Pikachu joined them (without the box) and 'Red' just stood there.

"Ash! What are you doing here?" asked Misty, pushing Ash off of her.

"Misty, Brock, Dawn! I don't want you guys to go! Please stay with me!"

"Huh?"

"If you guys leave me alone, then I don't know what I'd do. Please stay." Ash's happiness was then replaced with sadness. Misty then felt a pang of sadness in her heart as well, one she hadn't felt since the day she had to leave Ash and go back to the gym.

"Is this how he feels?" she thought.

Everyone else also felt a pang of sadness mixed with guilt, but not as strong as Misty's.

"…Alright then Ash, we'll stay with you" said Misty.

Ash's face brightened and started cheering, and it was hard to believe he had been so depressed before. However, Brock remembered something important. "Wait, what about your father, Ash? He might try to stop us."

"I don't care, I'll make sure you guys come with us. If not, I'll see if I can convince Selia, after all I am cute and irresistible."

"Of course you are."

'Red', who was watching, the conversation, suddenly felt as if there was something eerily behind him. He turned around, but saw nothing except his shadow. He shrugged it off, until he realized something. Ghosts don't have shadows. Before he could do anything, a dark wave of energy was let loose, knocking down Ash and his friends.

"Ow, what was that?" asked Dawn.

"I think it was a Pokémon, but I'm not sure I saw anything around here" said Brock.

"U-uh g-guys. Why is that shadow rising?" Misty pointed to the alley, where it certainly looked like a shadow was rising from the ground. To make things stranger, a blue like light suddenly lit up inside the shadow, making it look like an eye. Ash remembered where he had seen that before.

"We have to leave, now!" Ash pulled up his friends so that they would get on their feet, but the shadow then sent out another wave of dark energy. When it looked like it would hit Ash, some sort of beam seemed to knock the wave away and make it crash against the wall. He turned around, and to his relief, Cresselia was just above them and firing what looked to be Aurora beams at the shadow.

"Alright then, give it up! We all know who you are Darkrai" she yelled.

"…Oh, you're no fun Cresselia…" The shadow suddenly changed as a white plume like thing came from the top of what was turning into a head. Around its head were red spikes, which formed around like a color. Its body kept its shadowy like appearance, but now two arms had appeared from its sides.

"What is that thing?" asked a horrified Misty.

"It's Darkrai" answered Ash.

"It's a legendary Pokémon that gives you nightmares" explained Brock.

"So what's it doing here?" she asked again.

"Darkrai, you came for Ash didn't you?"

Darkrai chuckled, "How wrong you are Cresselia. To tell the truth, I came to do the brat a favor and take him from going to the Island myself."

"You know about Ash?" asked Dawn.

"Everyone knows about him my dear girl. At least, all the legendaries do."

"But why do you want me to go with you?"

"To make your life easier boy, that's why. Your friend Cresselia would have slowed you down."

"That's a lie Darkrai! You just want Ash for your own dark ambitions!"

"Well, you could call them dark. Anyways, hand over the boy and no one gets hurt."

"Over my dead body Darkrai!"

Darkrai sighed, "I was almost hoping you wouldn't say that." Darkrai launched another Dark Pulse attack on Selia. "Selia, look out!"

Then, Selia put up a green shield of energy that completely stopped Darkrai's attack.

"Oh good, she used Protect" thought Ash. "But she can't stop Darkrai by just defending!"

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" he ordered.

Pikachu responded, and launched its attack directly at Darkrai, who was not expecting it.

"Argh, you troublesome brat…" Darkrai fell to the floor, apparently taking a lot of damage.

"Quickly everyone, this way!" said Cresselia.

Everyone used this time to run away. As they were running, Ash couldn't help but notice that something seemed very wrong. "Hey guys, don't you think it's kinda weird?"

Still running, Brock asked him why.

"Well, it's almost as if no one is here."

Cresselia stopped immediately, and turned into a human again. "Everyone stay close!"

They all huddled into a group, with Ash squished between everyone. "I can't breathe! Misty's big butt is in my face!" Misty snapped, and grabbed Ash by his little neck.

"All right that's it! If Darkrai won't kill you first, then I will!"

"Waah! Selia, Brock, Dawn, save me!"

"Will you two stop releasing your love onto each other and shut up!" shouted Dawn.

"Wow, Dawn actually made a good point" said Misty.

"It's kinda weird. Now can you let go of me Misty!" Misty let go of her grip on Ash, and he immediately fell to the floor.

"So Selia" said Brock, "what do you think is going on?"

"Ash was right; there really is no one here. I can't sense anyone."

"Do you think Darkrai is behind all this?"

"Maybe, but Darkrai can't take away all the people in the town. He's up to something."

"Hey guys," Ash walked up to Selia, "don't you think the ground here is soft?"

Dawn and Misty looked at Ash strangely. "Pika Pikapi?" (What do you mean Pikapi?)

"Well, when Misty had the courtesy of dropping me on the floor, I didn't feel anything."

"That's it!" cried Selia.

"What, what's it?"

"Darkrai must have put us under a nightmare, that no good son of a-"

"Hey wait a minute, Selia can't you wake us up?" interrupted Ash.

"Oh yeah, I forgot."

Selia began to glow, and suddenly the town disappeared and was replaced with darkness. Misty, who was not used to these sorts of nightmares, started to scream at the top of her lungs.

"Misty, stop screaming!" Ash yelled. She stopped, but then her entire body was starting to fade away. "Huh, what's going?" She wasn't the only one that was fading away. Ash, Brock, Dawn, Pikachu, even Selia looked as if they were being erased.

"Selia, what's happening? Why are we fading?"

"Don't worry Ash, we're about to wake up." Then, a beam of yellow energy was starting to form in her hands. She released the beam over her head, and then-

Everyone woke with a start. "Blast it, how did you get through my nightmares?"

Darkrai was floating over them, holding another dark pulse in his hands. "No matter, you humans will not stop me!"

"Yeah, well I can!" Ash launched himself against Darkrai and used Quick Attack, knocking Darkrai's focus off of his Dark Pulse.

"Stubborn brat, you don't realize what you have just done. Once you battle me, I'll never stop until I win!" Then, Darkrai launched another Dark Pulse straight at Ash, who dodged it at the very last second.

"Stay still you brat!"

"Nah, don't feel like it." Ash used Quick Attack, but just when Darkrai was about to dodge it…

"Take this!" Darkrai gets hit straight in the chest with Ash's fist. But instead of it being a normal punch, Ash's fist was glowing green and looked as if it was spiraling.

"Hey Brock, what move is that?" whispered Misty.

"I think that's Drain Punch! Ash must have learnt it right now" he replied.

"No duh."

"Wow, Ash might actually stand a chance now!" said Dawn happily.

"Pika chu Pikachu" (Some support you are)

"Instead of standing around here doing nothing, shouldn't we be helping Ash?" asked Brock.

"Nah lets just stand here dramatically. Of course we should help him!" Misty yelled. She took out a Pokéball, but was stopped by Selia.

"Hold on, there's something not right."

Darkrai also stopped. Ash was about to attack with Drain Punch, but was stopped by Darkrai. "Hey, I thought we were fighting!"

"Sorry, but I think I shall stop the fight right here" Darkrai said, surprising everyone.

"What! You're just gonna leave? What happened to all that 'I'll never stop until I win' speech?"

"You'd leave too if Giovanni was coming here." Before he could say anything else, Darkrai slipped onto the floor, and became part of the shadows.

"Wait a minute, come back here! How do you know about Giovanni?" Ash kept stomping and yelling at the floor, expecting Darkrai to come back at any time.

"Hey Selia, is Darkrai right?" asked Brock.

"I'm afraid he is, we have to leave now." She went and picked up Ash, much to his anger.

"Hey, let me down! I'm not through with him!" Sighing, she joined the others as they ran back to the Pokémon Center. 'Red', who's presence went unnoticed this whole time by Ash, just walked casually behind them.

"I guess I better follow them…"

* * *

"Agents, have you taken everyone away from the town?"

"Yes sir! Only the Pokémon center is left with civilians, and with the targets."

"Good, I don't want a mess to clean up. Remember, if you see any of the target's acquaintances, don't do anything that might hurt them. There's nothing more dangerous than a 14-year old pubescent boy with uncontrolled aura powers."

"Understood sir!"

"All right then, I'll be there in five minutes." Giovanni turned off the phone, done with giving orders to his agents. He was riding in one of the black vans that looked similar to the one that kidnapped Misty. Normally, Giovanni would be riding something more luxurious, but due to the circumstance he had no time to waste in such things. With his Persian by his side, he just thought to himself. "Soon, all of this won't matter. Once things go my way, nothing will matter anymore."


End file.
